Rubina Saigol (died 27 August 2021) was a Pakistani
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
scholar, educationalist and women's rights activist.
She authored and edited several books and papers in English and Urdu. Her scholarly work explored the themes of gender, education, nationalism, the state, ethnicity, religious radicalism, terrorism, feminism and human rights. She was a senior member of Women Action Forum and co founder of Ajoka Theatre Group.
Education
Saigol held a PhD in education from
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
and her MA in Development Psychology from
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
. Her early education was from
Kinnaird College for Women University
The Kinnaird College for Women (KCW) is a university located in Lahore, Pakistan. It is a women's liberal arts university.
Kinnaird was established in 1913 by the Zenana Bible and Medical Mission. In 1919, Presbyterian Mission Church and the ...
.
Books and publications
Saigol authored various books on the themes of gender, nationalism, identity. Her book ‘The Pakistan Project: A Feminist Perspective on Nation & Identity’, examines ‘the unstable genealogy of this idea of Pakistan from Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and M.A. Jinnah to Zia ul-Haq, through a gendered lens thus exposing its many, often contradictory, premises and assumptions.’
Her scholarly work has appeared in various national and international research journals. Dr. Saigol's publications span diverse themes, ranging from feminism, to gender within educational discourse, to nationalism and counter terrorism.
Her work has also been quoted extensively in both scholarly and journalistic publications. Her publications on gender and feminism in Pakistan is recommended as mandatory reading for multiple undergraduate and graduate courses by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Pakistan.
Feminist struggle
Dr. Saigol was one of the pioneering members of the