Gender Politics in Transition. Women's Political Rights in Egypt After the January 25 Revolution.


Book Description

The book sets out the development of gender politics before and after the revolution of January 25, with a particular focus on the period between January and August 2011 in order to analyse how women's rights have been progressing during the transitional period. The book locates the Egyptian case in a broader analytical framework derived from a brief comparative analysis of women's activism in revolutionary struggles or independence movements in countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Iran, South Africa, and Chile. This enables the research to underscore and highlight which strategies adopted by women have enabled them to be recognized and included politically in the transitional and post-transitional periods of their countries. The book also reports the historical perspective of the feminist movement in Egypt, as well as the major events that happened during and after the Egyptian revolution regarding women's political participation, social activism and state politics. Finally, the book devotes considerable space to an empirical study of perceptions held by ordinary Egyptian men and women with regard to themes and issues related to women




Rethinking Gender in Revolutions and Resistance


Book Description

Ever since the uprisings that swept the Arab world, the role of Arab women in political transformations received unprecedented media attention. The copious commentary, however, has yet to result in any serious study of the gender dynamics of political upheaval. Rethinking Gender in Revolutions and Resistance is the first book to analyse the interplay between moments of sociopolitical transformation, emerging subjectivities and the different modes of women’s agency in forging new gender norms in the Arab world. Written by scholars and activists from the countries affected, including Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, this is an important addition to Middle Eastern gender studies.




Gender, Women and the Arab Spring


Book Description

This book provides a unique investigation into the gender dynamics of the Arab Spring as it unfolded in North Africa. It covers issues such as gender legislation in the post-revolution period, sexual harassment, gender activism, politics and the female body, women and Islamist movements, state feminism, women and political economy, and women’s rights in the context of political transitions. Chapters on Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt are written by specialist and activists from those countries. It includes a rare, first hand insight into the gender debates, human rights violations and politics of post Qaddafi Libya, written by a Libyan scholar directly engaged in these developments. An analysis of post-Mubarak gender debates in Egypt is detailed by a gender activist and scholar currently engaged in these debates in favour of gender equitable legislation and human rights in Egypt. Two former Ministers of Women’s Affairs from Tunisia and Algeria, who are also prolific scholars, provide analysis on the situation of women’s rights in the context of Islamism and freedom of artistic expression in Tunisia and Algeria. In addition to these first hand accounts written by North African political and civil society actors, the book provides a comprehensive theoretical background that allows for readers to understand the historical and deeper cultural contexts of gender struggles. The Foreword frames the larger debate about gender equality and democratisation in the North Africa/Middle Eat region and clearly presents the lines of investigation of the chapters. Each chapter contains a clear framing of the subject that will orient, educate, and intelligently inform the general reader about the history, current developments and stakes of women’s struggles that have intensified and shifted since the beginning of the Arab Spring. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of North African Studies.




Fighting Back


Book Description

"On January 25, 2011, Egyptians stood together in Tahrir Square to call for the end of autocratic leadership. The crowd was widely representative: women, men, children, Coptic Christians, Muslims, Bedouins all showed up in support of the revolution. Less than two weeks before, Tunisian President Ben Ali had been ousted from power as the result of relatively peaceful demonstrations. What seemed a permissive environment for women in the early days of the 2011 revolution turned out to be dangerous, and at times, brutally violent. Following the ouster of Mubarak on February 11, 2011, sexual harassment and violence against women took an insidious turn amidst a period of political turmoil and transition. Two particular forms of sexual violence against women emerged during the demonstrations that ensued: organized mob attacks and gang rape and sexual assault committed by state security forces. Before long, Egyptian women mobilized to demand their right to political participation and take back their dignity. As women came increasingly under attack in post-revolution Egypt, various organizations surfaced in the fight against sexual harassment and violence against women. The origins and efforts of three of these organizations - HarassMap, Operation Anti Sexual Harassment (OpAntiSH), and Tahrir Bodyguard - are featured here. Working together, and in conjunction with other civil society organizations, members conducted awareness campaigns, rescued women under attack on multiple occasions, and ultimately, pushed for social and political change. Using Ray and Korteweg's findings on women's movements in third world settings as a theoretical framework, I demonstrate that the mobilization of Egyptian women during this period constitutes a "post-revolution women's movement." I then discuss the successful social and political outcomes that emerged from the movement, and conclude that this movement is a unique and powerful chapter in the historically rich and still unfolding narrative that is Egyptian feminism".




Women Rising


Book Description

Groundbreaking essays by female activists and scholars documenting women’s resistance before, during, and after the Arab Spring Images of women protesting in the Arab Spring, from Tahrir Square to the streets of Tunisia and Syria, have become emblematic of the political upheaval sweeping the Middle East and North Africa. In Women Rising, Rita Stephan and Mounira M. Charrad bring together a provocative group of scholars, activists, artists, and more, highlighting the first-hand experiences of these remarkable women. In this relevant and timely volume, Stephan and Charrad paint a picture of women’s political resistance in sixteen countries before, during, and since the Arab Spring protests first began in 2011. Contributors provide insight into a diverse range of perspectives across the entire movement, focusing on often-marginalized voices, including rural women, housewives, students, and artists. Women Rising offers an on-the-ground understanding of an important twenty-first century movement, telling the story of Arab women’s activism.




Gender, Protests and Political Change in Africa


Book Description

This book brings together conceptual debates on the impact of youth-hood and gender on state building in Africa. It offers contemporary and interdisciplinary analyses on the role of protests as an alternative route for citizens to challenge the ballot box as the only legitimate means of ensuring freedom. Drawing on case studies from seven African countries, the contributors focus on specific political moments in their respective countries to offer insights into how the state/society social contract is contested through informal channels, and how political power functions to counteract citizen’s voices. These contributions offer a different way of thinking about state-building and structural change that goes beyond the system-based approaches that dominate scholarship on democratization and political structures. In effect, it provides a basis for organizers and social movements to consider how to build solidarity beyond influencing government institutions. Chapters 3, 5, and 6 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.




World Report 2000


Book Description

Human rights watch world report 2001: events of 2000.




Arab Spring in Egypt


Book Description

Beginning in Tunisia, and spreading to as many as seventeen Arab countries, the street protests of the 'Arab Spring' in 2011 empowered citizens and banished their fear of speaking out against governments. The Arab Spring belied Arab exceptionalism, widely assumed to be the natural state of stagnation in the Arab world amid global change and progress. The collapse in February 2011 of the regime in the region's most populous country, Egypt, led to key questions of why, how, and with what consequences did this occur? Inspired by the "contentious politics" school and Social Movement Theory, Arab Spring in Egypt addresses these issues, examining the reasons behind the collapse of Egypt's authoritarian regime; analyzing the group dynamics in Tahrir Square of various factions: labor, youth, Islamists, and women; describing economic and external issues and comparing Egypt's transition with that of Indonesia; and reflecting on the challenges of transition.




Government–NGO Relationships in Africa, Asia, Europe and MENA


Book Description

This volume brings together some of the most recent scholarship on government and civil society. It examines the axis of the relationship between national governments and civil society organisations (NGOs) by highlighting commonalities as well as differences among four key regions in the world. Using the stability vs. instability framework, the book explores a range of pertinent issues, including human rights, development, foreign policy, state-building, regime change, governance frameworks, wars and civil liberties. It studies diverse situations, from those entailing comprehensive cooperation to those involving politically contentious and revolutionary activities. With case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of political science, global politics, international relations, sociology, development studies, global governance and public policy, as well as to those in the development sector and NGOs.