Actualising Agency within Society

Many of the actions taken by Shingali Ezidi women confirm elements of social identity. Since the Genocide, there have been new opportunities open to them to confirm the same social identities but in a different way. By grasping these new opportunities, Shingali Ezidi women are demonstrating new agencies previously unseen. A particular focus of this chapter will be on murids, the vast majority of the Ezidi population. Murids have been less well represented in studies because they are not the traditional holders of religious knowledge (with many prior writings focusing on religious thought and belief rather than daily life and the ‘average’ Ezidi694).