The Arab State and Womens Rights
Researchers studying gender politics in Arab societies have been puzzled by a phenomenon common in many Arab states while women are granted suffrage rights, they are often discriminated against by the state in their private lives.
This book addresses this phenomenon, maintaining that the Arab state functions according to a certain logic and patterns which have direct consequences on its gender policies, in both the public and private spheres. Using the features of the Arab authoritarian state as a basis for a theoretical framework of analysis, the author draws on detailed fieldwork and first-hand interviews to study womens rights in three countries Yemen, Syria, and Kuwait. She argues that the puzzle may be resolved once we focus on the features of the Arab state, and its stage of development.
Offering a new approach to the study of gender and politics in Arab states, this book will be of great interest to scholars and students of gender studies, international politics and Middle East studies.
Elham Manea is a Fulbright scholar working as an Associate Professor at the Political Science Institute at the University of Zrich, and is a consultant for Swiss government agencies and international and human rights organizations. Her research interests include gender and politics in Arab states, democratization and civil society in the Middle East, and the politics of the Arabian Peninsula.
Routledge studies in Middle Eastern politics
1 Algeria in Transition
Reforms and development prospects
Ahmed Aghrout with Redha M. Bougherira
2 Palestinian Refugee Repatriation
Global perspectives
Edited by Michael Dumper
3 The International Politics of the Persian Gulf
A cultural genealogy
Arshin Adib-Moghaddam
4 Israeli Politics and the First Palestinian Intifada
Political opportunities, framing processes and contentious politics
Eitan Y. Alimi
5 Democratization in Morocco
The political elite and struggles for power in the post-independence state
Lise Storm
6 Secular and Islamic Politics in Turkey
The making of the Justice and Development Party
mit Cizre
7 The United States and Iran
Sanctions, wars and the policy of dual containment
Sasan Fayazmanesh
8 Civil Society in Algeria
The political functions of associational life
Andrea Liverani
9 Jordanian-Israeli Relations
The peacebuilding experience
Mutayyam al Oran
10 Kemalism in Turkish Politics
The Republican Peoples Party, secularism and nationalism
Sinan Ciddi
11 Islamism, Democracy and Liberalism in Turkey
The case of the AKP
William Hale and Ergun zbudun
12 Politics and Violence in Israel/ Palestine
Democracy versus military rule
Lev Luis Grinberg
13 Intra-Jewish Conflict in Israel
White Jews, black Jews
Sami Shalom Chetrit
14 Holy Places in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Confrontation and co-existence
Edited by Marshall J. Breger, Yitzhak Reiter and Leonard Hammer
15 Plurality and Citizenship in Israel
Moving beyond the Jewish/Palestinian civil divide
Edited by Dan Avnon and Yotam Benziman
16 Ethnic Politics in Israel
The margins and the Ashkenasi Center
Asad Ghanem
17 Islamists and Secularists in Egypt
Opposition, conflict and cooperation
Dina Shehata
18 Political Succession in the Arab World
Constitutions, family loyalties and Islam
Anthony Billingsley
19 Turkeys Entente with Israel and Azerbaijan
State identity and security in the Middle East and Caucasus
Alexander Murinson
20 Europe and Tunisia
Democratization via association
Brieg Powel and Larbi Sadiki
21 Turkish Politics and the Rise of the AKP
Dilemmas of institutionalization and leadership strategy
Arda Can Kumbaracibasi
22 Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World
The dynamics of activism
Francesco Cavatorta and Vincent Durac
23 Politics in Morocco
Executive monarchy and enlightened authoritarianism
Anouar Boukhars
24 The Second Palestinian Intifada
Civil resistance
Julie M. Norman
25 Democracy in Turkey
The impact of EU political conditionality
Ali Resul Usul
26 Nationalism and Politics in Turkey
Political Islam, Kemalism and the Turkish issue
Edited by Marlies Casier and Joost Jongerden
27 Democracy in the Arab World
Explaining the deficit
Edited by Samir Makdisi and Ibrahim Elbadawi
28 Public Management in Israel
Development, structure, functions and reforms
Itzhak Galnoor
29 Israeli Nationalism
Social conflicts and the politics of knowledge
Uri Ram
30 NATO and the Middle East
The geopolitical context post-9/11
Mohammed Moustafa Orfy
31 The Kurds and US Foreign Policy
International relations in the Middle East since 1945
Marianna Charountaki
32 The Iran-Iraq War
Antecedents and conflict escalation
Jerome Donovan
33 Surveillance and Control in Israel/Palestine
Population, territory and power
Edited by Elia Zureik, David Lyon and Yasmeen Abu-Laban
34 Conflict and Peacemaking in IsraelPalestine
Theory and application
Sapir Handelman
35 Arab Minority Nationalism in Israel
The politics of indigeneity
Amal Jamal
36 The Contradictions of Israeli Citizenship
Land, religion and state
Edited by Guy Ben-Porat and Bryan S. Turner
37 The Arab State and Womens Rights
The trap of authoritarian governance
Elham Manea
First published 2011
by Routledge
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Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2011 Elham Manea
The right of Elham Manea to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Manea, Elham.
The Arab State and womens rights : the trap of authoritarian governance / Elham Manea.
p. cm. (Routledge studies in Middle Eastern politics; 37)
