Women and Social Change in North Africa: What Counts as Revolutionary?

Description

Women's voices are brought to the fore in this comprehensive analysis of women and social change in North Africa. Focusing on grass-roots perspectives, readers will gain a rare glimpse into how both the intentional and unintentional actions of men and women contribute to societal transformation. Most chapters are based on extensive field work that illuminates the real-life experiences, advocacy, and agency of women in the region. The book considers frequently less studied issues including migration, legal changes, oral and written law, Islamic feminism, and grass-roots activism. It also looks at the effectiveness of shelters for abused women and the changes that occurred in the wake of the 2011 Arab uprisings, as well as challenging conventional notions of feminist agency by examining Salafi women's life choices. Recommended for students and scholars, as well as international development professionals with an interest in the MENA region. Cover Half-title Title page Copyright information Epigraph Table of contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Acknowledgments Notes on Transliteration Introduction Social Change: What Counts as Revolutionary? Social Change Generated by Social Nonmovements Nonchanges Noncontentious Social Changes Contentious Social Action Why North Africa? Why Women? Organization of the Book What Is Social Change? Religion and Social Change Migration and Social Change What Is Law? Oral and Codified Law Endnotes Part I What Is Social Change? 1 Capturing Change in Legal Empowerment Programs in Morocco and Tunisia: Shared Challenges and Future Directions Introduction Defining Change Defining and Assessing Social Change in Legal Empowerment Programs Smoke-and-Mirrors Law Reform in Morocco Resisting Reform Looking for Change beyond the Law Internal NGO Relationships NGO–Beneficiary Relationships NGO–NGO Relationships NGO–State Actor Relationships Conclusions Endnotes 2 Safe Havens and Social Embeddedness: An Examination of Domestic Violence Shelters in Morocco Practitioners’ Objectives: Socio-Professional Training, Integration, and Empowerment Shelter Objectives Versus Results Social Embeddedness: External Constraints Facing Shelters Isolation and Over-Personalized Care: The Internal Dynamics of Shelters Conclusions Endnotes 3 Reforming Gendered Property Rights: The Case of Collective Land in Morocco Introduction Gender and Collective Lands: The Exclusion of Women from the Right of Use The Soulaliyate Movement: Protesting Women’s Exclusion From Land Rights An Evolving Argument: Toward Equality as a Legislative Norm Justifying a Change in Custom: Social Norms in Qasbat Mehdia Economic Motivations and Reproduced Male Dominance Conclusion Endnotes 4 Micro-Credit, Gender, and Corruption: Are Women the Future of Development? Introduction Micro-Credit and Gender Gender and Corruption An Alternate View of Gender and Corruption The Impact of Culture on Gender and Corruption Methodology: The Case for a Quantitative, Micro-Level Analysis Data Collection and Sampling Dress Code Issues Data Collection Data Analysis Findings Definition of Corruption Who Is Corrupt? Gender and Corruption Intention Causes of and Justifications for Corruption Corruption Causes and Justifications Deterrent Factors Conclusion Endnotes Part II Religion and Social Change 5 Morocco’s Islamic Feminism: The Contours of a New Theology? Introduction Liberation Theology and Justice Islam as a Dynamic Religion Proponents of Third Way Feminism in Morocco Fatema Mernissi Asma Lamrabet Amina Wadud Challenging Male Authority within a Religious Framework Qiwamah Hijab Irth Marriage of Muslims and Non-Muslims Wadudian Hermeneutics Tawhidic Paradigm Khalifah The Significance of Wadud’s Gesture (Salat) and Sermon (Khutba) Lamrabet and Wadud as Representatives of a Transnational Third Way Wadud and Lamrabet as Islamic Feminist Reformers Conclusions Endnotes 6 Moroccan Mothers’ Religiosity: Impact on Daughters’ Education Introduction Exploring Mothers’ Participation in Educational Decisions for Daughters Quantitative Component of the Analysis: Mothers’ Religiosity, Household Decision-Making, and Daughters’ Education Methodological Aspects Empirical Results Qualitative Component of the Analysis: The Role of Influential Religious Movements in Mothers’ Participation in Education Decisions Methodology Religious Movements in Morocco Jama‘a al ‘Adl wa-l Ihsane (Al-Adl) Religious Movements and Social Influence What Do the Discourse and Projects of Women Activists Teach Us? Gender Justice, Re-Reading of Sacred Texts Social Action and Education Sisters for Eternity: In Search of Women’s Enlightenment The End of an Influential Era? Limitations and Possible Extensions Conclusion Endnotes 7 Pious and Engaged: The Religious and Political Involvement of Egyptian Salafi Women after the 2011 Revolution Introduction Scholarship on Gender and Islamism Salafi Women Before and After the Revolution Mosques at the Heart of Women’s Involvement Salafi Female Social and Religious Practices after the Revolution: The Case of Umm Al-Mu’minin Conclusion Endnotes Part III Migration and Social Change 8 Morocco at the Crossroads: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Refugee Status Introduction Implementing the 1951 Refugee Convention Eligibility for Refugee Status Morocco’s Obligation as Signatory to the Refugee Convention, Nondiscriminatory Application Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Morocco: Historical and Legal Context Morocco’s 2003 Migration Law 2013 Migration Reforms: Morocco Taking Back Legal Processing of Asylum Seekers Contemporary Problematic in the Application of the Refugee Convention Gender-Based Asylum Claims Evaluating Gender-Based Asylum Claims in Morocco Race and Refugee Exceptionalism in Morocco Prima Facie Refugees and Cultural Compatibility Conclusion Endnotes 9 Speaking of the Dead: Changing Funeral Practices among Moroccan Migrants in the Netherlands and Belgium Introduction Methodology Diversity among Muslims in the Netherlands and Belgium Islamic Burial Rituals as Rites de Passage Changing Burial Rituals in the Netherlands and Belgium Participation of Moroccan Women in Funeral Processions and Burials Conclusions Endnotes 10 Dying with a Clear Mind: Pain and Symptom Control in Palliative Care for Dutch Moroccan Patients in the Netherlands Introduction Pain and Symptom Management and Palliative Sedation in Dutch Palliative Care Dutch Moroccan Cases in the Dutch Context Perspectives of Patients and Their Relatives Performance of Rituals before Death Religious Understandings of Pain and Suffering Fear of Accelerating Death Perspectives of Physicians Perspectives of Intermediaries Imams Healthcare Consultants Islamic Spiritual Counselors Palliative Care in Morocco Conclusion Endnotes Part IV What Is Law? Oral and Codified Law 11 Kol B’Isha Erva: The Silencing of Jewish Women’s Oral Traditions in Morocco Introduction The History of Jews in Morocco Jewish Ethnic Groups Background to Jewish Law Jewish Law and Women’s Public Singing Rabbinic Discussions on Kol Isha: Global and Local Interpretations Global Interpretations Local Interpretations Minhag Hamakom and the Globalization of Rabbinic Laws Jewish Women’s Singing Practices before Moroccan Independence Examples of Judeo-Arabic Practices Examples of Judeo-Berber Practices Examples of Judeo-Spanish Practices Jewish Women’s Singing Practices after Moroccan Independence Moroccan Jewish Women’s Voices in the Public Sphere Moroccan Jewish Women’s Voices in the Private Sphere The Inherent Fragility of Orality Conclusion Endnotes 12 Customary Law and Women’s Rights among the Imazighen of the Middle Atlas and Southeast Morocco Introduction Customary Law Arabo-Amazigh Customary Law Documents Customary Law and Qur’anic Law Tribal Elders and the Application of Customary Law to Women Customary Law Tribunals under the Protectorate How Custom and Gender Relations Work on the Ground Brief Case Study: The Ayt ‘Ameur of Anefgou (Eastern High Atlas) Customary Law and Gender Relations in Poetry The Present Picture in the Eastern Moroccan Atlas Conclusion Endnotes 13 Family Law Reform in Algeria: National Politics, Key Actors, and Transnational Factors Introduction The Emergence and Positioning of the Algerian Women’s Movement of the 1980s The Women’s Movement and the Algerian Civil War of the 1990s The 1996 Reform Attempt The Women’s Movement and the 1996 Reform Attempt The Context for Algeria’s 2005 Family Law Reform The Political Context The Process of the 2005 Family Law Reform Opposition to the Reform Transnational Factors in the 2005 Algerian Family Law Reform The Timing of the Reform The Method and the Framework of Reform The Content of the Laws Conclusion Endnotes 14 The Case of Women’s Unilateral Divorce Rights in Egypt: Revolution and Counterrevolution? Introduction British Domination: The Liberation of the Nation and of Women A Century of Personal Status Law Reform Uridu Hallan (I Want a Solution) A Decade of Family Law in Revolution Egyptian Women Go to Court Women Providers: The Case of Halima A Counterrevolution in Personal Status Law? Conclusion Endnotes 15 Emerging Norms: Writing Gender in the Post-Revolution Tunisian State Introduction Female Subject-Making in Tunisian History Scholarship on Women’s Rights in Tunisia Tunisian Women and the Familial Unit Gender and the Post–Ben Ali Political Discourse Gender and the 2011 Election Gender and the Constitutional Drafting Process The 2012 Draft of the Constitution Complementarity and Article 2.28 The Role of Le Groupe des Femmes Gender and the 2014 Constitution of the Tunisian Republic Clause One: The State shall commit to protecting women’s achieved rights and seek to support and develop them. Clause Two: The State shall guarantee equal opportunities between men and women in the bearing of all the various responsibilities in all fields. Clause Four:74 The State shall take the necessary measures to eliminate violence against women. Clause Three: The State shall seek to achieve equal representation for women and men in elected councils. Conclusion Endnotes Bibliography Index