The Ideal Refugees: Gender, Islam, and the Sahrawi Politics of Survival

by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh

Overview

Refugee camps are typically perceived as militarized and patriarchal
spaces, and yet the Sahrawi refugee camps and their inhabitants
have consistently been represented as ideal in nature: uniquely
secular and democratic spaces, and characterized by gender
equality. Drawing on extensive research with and about Sahrawi
refugees in Algeria, Cuba, Spain, South Africa, and Syria, Fiddian-
Qasmiyeh explores how, why, and to what effect such idealized
depictions have been projected onto the international arena.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815652366
Publisher:	Syracuse University Press
Publication date:	02/11/2014
Series:	Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh is departmental lecturer in forced migration at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, where she is also junior
research fellow in refugee studies at Lady Margaret Hall.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Maps ix

List of Tables xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Acronyms and Abbreviations xv

Introduction: The "Ideal" Refugees 1

1 Engendering the Colonial Encounter 47

2 The Sahrawi Refugee Camps: International and Solidarity Networks 79

3 Emerging Discourse: Concealing Islam 126

4 Secular Sisters, Muslim Others, and the Politics of Survival 172

5 Discursive Silences, "Ideal Women," and Directing Aid 221

6 Conclusion 262

Glossary 273

References 279

Index 321

Editorial Reviews

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh's book engages critically with the literature that sees Sahrawi refugees as 'ideal' due to their egalitarian social organization in camps, notably towards women, the lack of corruption and their 'secular' identity.

Mediterranean Politics

This is a book devoted to, and is successful in, critically assessing how gender relations are constructed in and about the Sahrawi camps and are simultaneously derived from social, political, and humanitarian interactions on an international scale.

Journal of Refugee Studies

An outstanding contribution to the understanding of gender roles, particularly in an Islamic setting, women's studies, and the Sahrawis.

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