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

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.

Doris H. Gray directs the Hillary Clinton Center for Women's Empowerment at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco where she also serves as Associate Professor of Gender Studies. Before becoming an academic, she worked as a foreign correspondent in South and East Africa. She has authored two books entitled Beyond Feminism and Islamism: Gender and Equality in North Africa (2014) and Muslim Women on the Move: Moroccan Women and French Women of Moroccan Origin Speak Out (2007), as well as publishing on women and transitional justice in Tunisia. Dr Gray has received numerous research grants and is a frequent speaker on contemporary gender issues in North Africa.
Nadia Sonneveld works at the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, the Netherlands and has an academic background in anthropology, Arabic, and law. The common factor in all her research activities is the focus on gender and law in the Muslim world, particularly in Egypt and Morocco. Previously, she was a guest scholar at the School of Oriental Studies (SOAS) in London, and Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. She authored Khul' Divorce in Egypt: Public Debates, Judicial Practices, and Everyday Life (2012), and has co-authored Women Judges in the Muslim World: A Comparative Study of Discourse and Practice, with Monika Lindbekk (2017).