Women and Globalization in the GCC: Negotiating States, Agency, and Social Change (original) (raw)

The Situation of Women in the Gulf States, COUNTRY EXPERTS Dr Mona Abbass Fadhel (Bahrain) Dr Philippa Winkler (Iran and Iraq) Dr Wanda Krause (Kuwait and Qatar) Dr Khalid M. Al-Azri (Oman) Dr Sherifa Zuhur (Saudi Arabia) Dr Shahida El-Baz (United Arab Emirates)

Focusing on women’s rights and gender equality in Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, this study provides a socio-cultural, political and economic analysis of women’s situation in the Gulf region. The first 6 chapters consist of a comprehensive overview of the most important women’s rights issues in all of the eight Gulf States, including recommendations for the European Union as a whole and the European Parliament in particular to support women’s rights and gender equality in these countries. This overall part is followed by a graphic overview of the most important findings of the study. In chapters 7 to 14, more specific and detailed data on the situation of women and their rights is presented per individual Gulf State. Throughout the study, the cultural and historical heterogeneity of the region has been taken into account. AUTHORS Dr May Seikaly, Wayne State University Rahil Roodsaz, MSc, Atria Institute on Gender Equality and Women’s History Drs Corine van Egten, Atria Institute on Gender Equality and Women’s History COUNTRY EXPERTS Dr Mona Abbass Fadhel (Bahrain) Dr Philippa Winkler (Iran and Iraq) Dr Wanda Krause (Kuwait and Qatar) Dr Khalid M. Al-Azri (Oman) Dr Sherifa Zuhur (Saudi Arabia) Dr Shahida El-Baz (United Arab Emirates) EDITORIAL REVIEW COMMITTEE Prof. Dr Willy Jansen, Director Institute for Gender Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen Dr Renée Römkens, Director Atria Institute on Gender Equality and Women’s History Drs Thera van Osch, Independent consultant/Director OQ Consulting BV Kinga Lohmann, Director KARAT Coalition RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATORS Erika Schulze Ottavio Marzocchi Policy Department C: Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs European Parliament B-1047 Brussels E-mail: poldep-citizens@ep.europa.eu

THE GCC REGION Political Balances and Global Dimension BY ELENA MAESTRI

Human development, education, regional integration, and non-oil industrialisation are the main topics tackled in this paper, with reference to the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region, and with special emphasis on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. It is clear that in the region an evolutionary change can only be conceived within the framework of integrated regional, economic and human development. Considering the new challenges of globalisation, the GCC is called to play a more active role in the promotion of a collective and co-operative approach to security, taken as a multi- dimensional concept.