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

A wide-ranging analysis of grass-roots activism, migration, legal, political and religious changes as basis for social transformation.

Doris H. Gray (Edited by), Nadia Sonneveld (Edited by)

9781108411257, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 March 2020

415 pages
22.9 x 15.1 x 2.2 cm, 0.62 kg

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.

Introduction Doris H. Gray and Nadia Sonneveld
Part I. What is Social Change?: 1. Capturing change in legal empowerment programs in Morocco and Tunisia: shared challenges and future directions Stephanie Willman Bordat and Saida Kouzzi
2. Safe havens and social embeddedness: an examination of domestic violence shelters in Morocco Megan O'Donnell
3. Reforming gendered property rights: the case of collective land in Morocco Yasmine Berriane
4. Microcredit, gender and corruption: are women the future of development? Nicolas Hamelin, Mehdi el Boukhari and Sonny Nwankwo
Part II. Religion and Social Change: 5. Morocco's Islamic feminism: the contours of a new theology? Doris H. Gray and Habiba Boumlik
6. Moroccan mothers' religiosity: impact on daughters' education Imane Chaara
7. Pious and engaged: the religious and political involvement of Egyptian Salafi women after the 2011 Revolution Laurence Deschamps-Laporte
Part III. Migration and Social Change: 8. Morocco at the crossroads: the intersection of race, gender and refugee status Karla McKanders
9. Speaking of the dead: changing funeral practices among Moroccan migrants in the Netherlands and Belgium Khadija Kadrouch-Outmany
10. Dying with a clear mind: pain control and end of life care for Dutch Moroccan patients in the Netherlands Roukayya Oueslati
Part IV. What is Law? Oral and Codified Law: 11. KOL B'ISHA ERVA: the silencing of Jewish women's oral traditions in Morocco Vanessa Paloma Elbaz
12. Customary law among the Imazighen of the Middle Atlas and South East Morocco Michael Peyron
13. Family law reform in Algeria: national politics, key actors, and transnational factors Dörthe Engelcke
14. The case of women's unilateral divorce rights in Egypt: revolution and counterrevolution? Nadia Sonneveld
15. Emerging norms: writing gender in the post-revolution Tunisian state Zoe Petkanas.

Subject Areas: Gender studies: women [JFSJ1], African history [HBJH]