The ‘NGOization’ of the Arab Women’s Movements (original) (raw)
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The NGO‐isation of Arab Women's Movements
IDS bulletin, 2004
1 Introduction One of the dominant trends in the evolution of the Arab women's movements is a steady increase in the number of women's non-governmental organisations (NGOs) dealing with aspects of women's lives such as health, education, legal literacy, income generation ...
Gender and Civil Society in the Middle East
International Feminist Journal of Politics, 2003
This article explores the aims, activities and challenges of women's movements in the Middle East. It demonstrates the similarities among movements, which are related to both the historical emergence of women's movements, and in particular their close affiliation to nationalist struggles, as well as contemporary circumstances such as ambiguous government policies, repression of civil societies and prevailing authoritarian political cultures. This contribution also looks to the specific factors and conditions that shape women's movements in particular countries differently, thereby highlighting the great degree of heterogeneity among women's organizations in the Middle East. An analysis of the actual goals and activities of women's groups in various countries, such as Jordan, Egypt and Palestine reveals that women activists tend to get mobilized around issues related to modernization and development. Issues such as women's rights to education, work and political participation have traditionally been both the accepted demands of women activists as well as part of the discourses of male modernizers and reformers. However, the more sensitive issues of women's reproductive rights and violence against women, for example, have been taken up by only a few women's organizations in recent years. The relationship of women's organizations to the state is key to the analysis of women's movements in the region. Varying levels of dependence and autonomy can be detected not only in the comparison of one country with another but also within given country contexts.
WOMEN'S NGOs AND THEIR RELATIONS WITH THE STATE IN EGYPT
2007
iii I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Beril Karaoğlan Signature : iv ABSTRACT WOMEN'S NGOs AND THEIR RELATIONS WITH THE STATE IN EGYPT Karaoğlan, Beril M.S., Department of Middle East Studies Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Bahattin Akşit August 2007, 129 pages This thesis is designed to analyze the relations between the Egyptian women's NGOs and the state in Contemporary Egypt through the interviews conducted with members and administrators of eleven selected women's NGOs based in Cairo. The main aim is to show how these NGOs with different aims and different working areas build their relations with the state, what kind of problems they face and how they cope with them as well as, if there are any, elaborate the relation patterns between the state and different women's NGOs in different fields. The sample of the research consists of twenty-seven women, members and administrators, from eleven women's organizations based in Cairo. The women's organizations that constitute the subject of this research study were selected out of the leading advocacy, research, charity and development NGOs in Cairo. Within this framework, the thesis is mainly based on the qualitative data of the in-depth interviews and the interpretations of the responses given by the interviewees. v On the other hand, in order to better analyze and understand existing relations between the state and women's organizations in contemporary Egypt, women's activism and NGOs and their shifting relations with the state will be examined historically as well. for Women vi ÖZ MISIR'DAKİ KADIN NGO'LARI VE DEVLETLE OLAN İLİŞKİLERİ Karaoğlan, Beril Yüksek Lisans, Ortadoğu Araştırmaları Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Bahattin Akşit Ağustos 2007, 129 sayfa Bu tez çağdaş Mısır'daki kadın NGO'ları ve devlet arasındaki ilişkileri Kahire merkezli onbir kadın NGO'sunun üye ve yöneticileri ile yapılan görüşmeler çerçevesinde analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Amaç, farklı amaçları ve çalışma alanları olan bu NGO'ların devletle kurdukları ilişkileri, ne tür problemler yaşadıklarını ve bunları nasıl çözdüklerini göstermek olduğu kadar, eğer varsa, farklı alanlarda çalışan farklı kadın NGO'larının devletle kurdukları ilişkilerin farklılıklarını da ortaya koymaktır. Bu araştırmanın örneklemini Kahire merkezli on bir kadın organizasyonunun yirmi yedi üye ve yöneticisi oluşturmaktadır. Bu araştırma çalışmasının konusunu oluşturan kadın organizasyonları kadın hakları savunuculuğu, araştırma, yardım ve kalkınma alanlarında Kahire'nin önde gelenleri arasından seçilmiştir. Bu çerçevede, bu tez temel olarak derinlemesine görüşmelerden elde edilen kalitatif verilere ve görüşme yapılan kişilerin verdiği cevapların yorumlanmasına dayanmaktadır. Öte yandan, çağdaş Mısır'daki kadın organizasyonları ve devlet arasındaki ilişkiyi daha iyi analiz edebilmek ve anlayabilmek için, kadın vii aktivizmi ve NGO'ları ve bunların devletle olan değişken ilişkileri tarihsel süreç içerisinde de incelenecektir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kadın Hareketi, Kadın NGO'ları, devlet, Mısır Ulusal Kadın Konseyi viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
2014
Feminist and gender scholars present their own claims within the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals debate concerning what it means to empower women. Despite the evident advancements for women’s participation in educational and health spheres in the last twenty years, empowerment is yet framed as an end in itself rather than a journey composed of negotiations of power and social and cultural norms. Empowerment within MDG 3 is measured as an increased participation of women in education, formal workforce and political positions. However, as much as important as these indicators are, relational features such as culture, religion, notion of selfhood and political constraints, represent intertwining components that shape persistent discrimination against women and brings nuance to the Gender and Development (GAD) framework. The purpose of this research is to challenge the framing of women empowerment as instrumental to further gender equality by analysing the impacts of current programs taking place in and around Amman, Jordan. This study addresses the approaches of civil society organizations towards women empowerment, their programs and limitations within a transformative conceptual framework. Empirical evidence was collected through in-depth interviews and focus groups with representatives of civil society organizations that focus on women’s issues and with women targeted by women empowerment programs. There is a balance of civil society organizations that implement women empowerment programs that operate between conservative-moderate and moderate-progressive approaches, representing an unquestionable importance for the ‘women question’ in the country. The main limitations for women empowerment in and around Amman, can be summarized by (1) the strong social and cultural norms that are essentially discriminative towards women; (2) the external depiction of empowerment, which ultimately hinders the formation of a cohesive and active women’s movement; (3) the lack of political will, making women’s issue a civil society issue and imposing restrictions for their functioning. This study suggests that women empowerment programming in and around Amman can acquire value with a decreased disharmony between the organizations and with a revision of the concept of empowerment in a local level, main challenges that prevents the formation of a cohesive movement that could unite the efforts considered conservative-moderate to moderate-progressive. Additionally, this study is attentive to the rupture of the stereotypical image of Muslim women, positioning in the same level of analysis forms of oppression that shape discrimination against women in western and non-western contexts, emphasizing the foundation of feminist concerns.
Arab Women's Activism and Socio-Political Transformation
Springer eBooks, 2018
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The politics of women-focused activism, academia and the state in Middle East and North Africa
Contemporary Levant, 2016
Prof. Zahia Smail-Salhi, Professor of Modern Arabic Studies has researched and taught in the field of Arabic Studies for many years. Her publications 1 show the depth and breadth of her research interests: literature, women's feminist movements, the politics of gender based violence and the dynamics of activism in the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region. Zahia has a crucial role in various cross-border academic networks and projects which facilitate new research on the politics of women and gender in MENA. This article is a transcription of a conversation between Zahia Smail-Salhi and me on the emerging trends and developments in women-focused activism. Here, we explore activism inside and outside academia; the politics of feminism in MENA state discourses; the changing terms of reference for gender; the diverse locations and solidarities of women-focused political engagements. Ruth Abou Rached: Thank you very much Professor Zahia Smail-Salhi for taking the time to talk with us at Contemporary Levant today. Drawing on your experience, what important changes, trends and developments in Women and Gender-focused activism and research are taking place in the MENA region at this time? Zahia Smail-Salhi: I'd like to start with two points. The first point concerns the huge diversity of MENA. The MENA region stretches all the way from Morocco to the Gulf. Issues facing women in Morocco are different from issues facing women in Saudi Arabia or in Egypt, etc. But overall I think we're living through interesting times … in fact the biggest challenge for every scholar is to keep up with the changes taking place across the region. The second important point is that the changes and high visibility of women-focused activism did not start post Arab Spring. MENA women have always engaged in politics and research from perspectives of women and gender, since before the last MENA countries got independence from colonial rule in the 1960s. To understand changes taking place in women-focused activism in MENA, we need to understand the recent histories of women-focused activism in the region. After the era of state-sponsored feminisms, women academics and activists have moved into grassroots and localized activism by working with women in need directly. I can refer to the example of Algeria, where shelters, such as the SOS, Femmes en détresse (Women in Distress) for homeless women have been established by local activists. From these local direct interventions, we see now it's the activists who take the lead in localized women-focused changes in different regions and the academics who reach out to the activists to obtain an up-to-date picture of the latest and actual changes in society.
Women, Civil Society and Policy Change in the Arab World
This book examines the ways in which Arab civil society actors have attempted to influence public policies. In particular, the book studies the drive towards a change of policies that affect women and their well-being. It does so through the lens of women civil society activism and through analysis of cases of policy reform in three Arab countries namely: Lebanon, Morocco and Yemen. The book addresses the tension between policy change and state repression; between Islamic traditional/religious values and civil/secular ones; between the formal and the informal channels for policy-making. One of the first books to reflect on the capability of Arab civil society actors to influence change, it traces recent policy evolution from before the Arab Uprisings in 2011 until the present day, and describes the limited ability of civil society actors to induce change and substantiate it over recent decades. The book explores the use of policy theories in the analysis of cases, and reflects on th...
Reviving Pan-Arabism in Feminist Activism in the Middle East
Kohl: A Journal for Body and Gender Research, 2020
This essay is a preliminary attempt to explore the potential of a feminist, Pan-Arab ideology in relieving some of the tensions in feminist movement building in the Middle East and North Africa region. In its current formulation, regional feminisms suffer from compounded inefficiencies due to fragmentations in grassroots, civil society organizing; an overreliance on the state and state actors including NGOs and discourses of neoliberal development; and a narrow focus on a human rights approach for feminist action. Nonetheless, the present also offers a number of opportunities that are often omitted in our analysis of these disabling tensions. These include women’s growing salience and their increasing presence in public, political spaces of mobilizing, organizing and resistance, which has facilitated communication and negotiation with and within state apparatuses. Opportunities also exist thanks to the enabling and connective nature of the Internet for the purpose of transnational f...
Activism and the Economy of Victimhood: A Close Look into NGO-ization in Arabic-Speaking Countries
Interventions, 2020
state systems, and international funders. The essay questions what is "civil" about a society of functionaries that alienate oppressed populations deemed "unfit" to a foreign imaginary of victimhood. We here aim to expose the role the NGO-ization of activism plays in relation to maintaining the status quo around gender and sexuality, and erasing feminist histories. The essay exposes how victories claimed by NGOs are in fact the work and effort of those whose organizing is located outside the institutions. The essay suggests that LGBT-focused NGOs are often complicit with oppressive state systems and structures, promoting homonationalist narratives. We propose that much activism within NGOs is creating an economy of victimhood that is ultimately dependent on funding provided by states in the Global North. In this essay, we argue that Arundhati Roy's writing around the NGO-ization of resistance is also applicable to the context of the region, as it has material implications on queer intersectional feminist organizing and voices.