The book I chose to read for the final report was Politics of Mercy by Saba Mahmood. This book, while interesting, was very difficult to follow. Mahmood has essentially divided the book into two parts. The first part goes into detail about the Islamic women's mosque movement in Egypt. Mahmood explains her two years of "fieldwork" experience and critically analyzes Islamic women in post-9/11 Islamic culture. The second part of the book focuses on the ethics, autonomy and piety of women in this culture. Throughout the book Mahmood references Foucault, which I found really interesting in showing his influence and ideals from his research. The main idea that I think Mahmood is trying to convey is stated in the epilogue of Politics of Piety: “…This attempt at understanding offers the faintest hope in this embattled and imperious climate, in which feminist politics is in danger of being diminished to a rhetorical exposition of the cartel of abuses of Islam, that analysis as a mode of conversation, rather than as mastery, can produce a vision of coexistence that does not require making the lifeworlds of others extinct or provisional.” (Mahmood, 2005, p.199) In retrospect I found that Politics of Piety refers to the concepts of gender and law, legal pluralism, and finally autonomy and self-determination that we learned throughout the semester. Gender and law are a big issue part of Politics and Piety. The supposed role of women to gain some autonomy in this movement must be subordinated to their feminine virtues so that they can gain a more public role in their political and religious life. (Mahmood, 2005, p.6). My impression of this movement is that women involved in politics and the Islamic religion are still governed by a patriarchal authority. A... middle of the paper... affects the laws that are made regarding these concepts in mind. Gender and law represent the entire mosque movement and how Islamic women today are slowly changing and gaining some power. Legal pluralism concerns all systems in place and their influence on Islamic women. Autonomy and self-determination represent the rights, choices, and freedoms these women are gaining through this movement and the changes following 9/11. Works Cited Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of Prison (2nd Vintage Books ed.). New York: Vintage Books. Mahmood, S. (2005). Politics of Piety: Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Merry, S. E. (1988). Legal pluralism. Law & Society Review, 869-896. Steinbrich, S. (1990). The social and legal position of Lyela women (Burkina Fas). Journal of legal pluralism, 30-31, 869-894.