Hania Sholkamy, director of the middle east hub of the Pathways of Women’s Empowerment research programme talks to openDemocracy's Jane Gabriel about her work on gender and empowerment in Egypt, and of establishing a voice within global feminism.

Dr Sholkamy talks of the struggle to bridge the gap between practice and academy, avoiding the destructive influence of arab exceptionalism, the differences between secular and Islamic feminism, and the necessity of compromise, negotiation and working within the neo liberal model to advance the political aspect of the movement.