Women Rising: In and Beyond the Arab Spring

by Rita Stephan (Editor), Mounira M. Charrad (Editor)

Overview

Groundbreaking essays by female activists and scholars documenting women’s resistance before, during, and after the Arab Spring

Images of women protesting in the Arab Spring, from Tahrir Square to the streets of Tunisia and Syria, have become emblematic of the political upheaval sweeping the Middle East and North Africa. In Women Rising, Rita Stephan and Mounira M. Charrad bring together a provocative group of scholars, activists, artists, and more, highlighting the first-hand experiences of these remarkable women.

In this relevant and timely volume, Stephan and Charrad paint a picture of women’s political resistance in sixteen countries before, during, and since the Arab Spring protests first began in 2011. Contributors provide insight into a diverse range of perspectives across the entire movement, focusing on often-marginalized voices, including rural women, housewives, students, and artists.

Women Rising offers an on-the-ground understanding of an important twenty-first century movement, telling the story of Arab women’s activism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479883035
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	06/09/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Rita Stephan is a Research Fellow at The Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies at North Carolina State University and the Director of the Middle East Partnership Initiative at the U.S. Department of State. She is the co-editor of In Line with the Divine: The Struggle for Gender Equality in Lebanon and the author of several publications on Lebanese women’s movement, social movements, social networks, and Arab-Americans.


Mounira Charrad is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas, Austin and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Baker Institute, Rice University. She is author of the award-winning book, States and Women’s Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, as well as the editor or co-editor of Patrimonial Power in the Modern World, Patrimonial Capitalism and Empire, Women’s Agency: Silences and Voices, and Femmes, Culture et Société au Maghreb.

Rita Stephan is a Research Fellow at The Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies at North Carolina State University and the Director of the Middle East Partnership Initiative at the U.S. Department of State. She is the co-editor of In Line with the Divine: The Struggle for Gender Equality in Lebanon and the author of several publications on Lebanese women’s movement, social movements, social networks, and Arab-Americans.

Mounira Charrad is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas, Austin and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Baker Institute, Rice University. She is author of the award-winning book, States and Women’s Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, as well as the editor or co-editor of Patrimonial Power in the Modern World, Patrimonial Capitalism and Empire, Women’s Agency: Silences and Voices, and Femmes, Culture et Société au Maghreb.

Table of Contents

Foreword Suad Joseph xiii

Introduction: Advancing Women's Rights in the Arab World Rita Stephan Mounira M. Charrad 1

Part I What They Fight For 13

1 Barefoot Feminist Classes: A Revelation of Being, Doing, and Becoming Rula Quawas 15

2 The Labor Strikes That Catalyzed the Revolution in Egypt Nadine Naber 28

3 From a Smear Campaign to the Kuwaiti Parliament: My Resolve Persists Despite Rumors Aseel Alawadhi 40

4 Palestinian Queerness and the Orientalist Paradigm Amal Amireh 44

5 "With All My Force …": Men against Domestic Violence in Lebanon Lina Abirafeh Ghida Anani 50

6 "Ne Touche Pas Mes Enfants!": A Woman's Campaign against Pedophilia in Morocco Ginger Feather 53

7 Two Nonviolence Campaigns Initiated by Women in Syria Mohja Kahf 58

8 Refusing the Backseat: Women as Drivers of the Yemeni Uprisings Aminah Ali Kandar 68

Part II What They Believe 83

9 "Women Are Complete, Not Complements": Terminology in the Writing of the New Constitution of Tunisia Mounira M. Charrad Amina Zarrugh 85

10 A Patriotic Christian Woman in the Syrian Parliament Maria Saadeh 96

11 Iraqi Women's Agency: From Political Authoritarianism to Sectarianism and Islamist Militancy Nadje Al-Ali 98

12 Hidden Voices, Hidden Agendas: Qubaysiat Women's Group in Syria Sana Sayed 107

13 The Egyptian Revolution and the Feminist Divide Samaa Gamie 117

14 Algerian Feminists Navigate Authoritarianism Maro Youssef 129

15 Failing the Masses in Syria: Buthaina Shabaan and the Public Intellectual Crisis Asaad Alsaleh 135

16 Time to Seize the Opportunity: A Call for Action from Sudan Fatma Osman Ibnouf 143

Part III How They Express Agency 147

17 Long before the Arab Spring: Arab Women's Cyberactivism through AWSA United Rita Stephan 149

18 Aliaa Elmahdy, Nude Protest, & Transnational Feminist Body Politics Karina Eikraas Karakus 161

19 Sensing Queer Activism in Beirut: Protest Soundscapes as Political Dissent Nisrine Chaer 173

20 On the Contrary: Negation as Resistance and Reimagining in the Work of Bahia Shehab Andy Young 185

21 Half Syrian Sufi Blogger: Faith and Activism in the Virtual Public Space Michela Cerruti 198

22 The Light in Her Eyes: A Woman Is a School. Teach Her and You Teach a Generation: An Interview with Filmmakers Julia Meltzer and Laura Nix Nurulsyahirah Taha 204

23 Writing Lebanese Feminist History: Rose Ghurayyib's Editorial Letters in Al-Raida Journal from 1976 to 1985 Nicole Khoury 208

24 Um Sahar, the Adeni Woman Leader in al-Hirak Southern Independence Movement in Yemen Kevin A. Davis 217

Part IV How They Use Space to Mobilize 223

25 Marching with Revolutionary Women in Egypt: A Participatory Journal Margot Badran 225

26 Memories of Martyrs: Disappearance and Women's Claims against State Violence in Libya Amina Zarrugh 233

27 Mapping the Egyptian Women's Anti-Sexual Harassment Campaigns Theresa Hunt 245

28 A Village Rises in the First Intifada: International Women's Day, March 8, 1988 Manal A. Jamal 259

29 Revolutionary Graffiti and Cairene Women: Performing Agency through Gaze Aversion Soumia Bardhan Karen A. Foss 267

30 Celebrating Women's Day in Baghdad, the City of Men Zahra Ali 283

31 Waiting for the Revolution: Women's Perceptions from Upper and Lower Rural Egypt Lorenzo Kamel Maha Ezzat Elkholy 290

32 New Media/New Feminism(s): The Lebanese Women's Movement Online and Offline Nelia Hyndman-Rizk 299

Part V How They Organize 311

33 Genesis of Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Fez, Morocco Fatima Sadiqi 313

34 My Revolution! Dina Wahba 318

35 Women's Political Participation in Bahrain Marwa Shalaby Ariana Marnicio 321

36 Strategies of Nonviolent Resistance: Syrian Women Subverting Dominant Paradigms Manal al-Natour 330

37 Driving Campaigns: Saudi Women Negotiating Power in the Public Space Namie Tsujigami 339

38 Reclaiming Space(s): Kuwaiti Women in the Karamat Watan Protests Emanuela Buscemi 348

39 "The Factory of the Revolution": Women's Activism in the Syrian Uprisings Layla Saleh 354

40 Arab American Women and the Arab Spring: An Interview with Summer Nasser Emily Regan Wills 363

Acknowledgments 367

About the Editors 369

About the Contributors 371

Index 383

Editorial Reviews

"This exciting and unique collection of essays by Arab activists, politicians, scholars, and others is remarkable in its breadth, covering a wide range of Arab countries and contexts to explore the activism of women before, during and after the Arab Spring uprisings. This important and impressive contribution to the study of women’s activism in the region reveals distinctive features of Arab women’s struggles and the national and local origins of their protests. It shows how women, through their very presence in protests, transformed the relationship of women to public space. Women were emboldened through their organizations; they increased political representation; and made legislative changes. But they also asserted their creative agency through literature, film, street art, the photographic lens, and many other forms of expression."

Aili Mari Tripp

"A rich collection that records the life and efforts of women during a critical point of history for Arab women as they struggle against odds that often seem insurmountable."

Amira Sonbol

"The message of this inspiring collection of personal reflections from Arab women activists of various types is that the Arab Spring is far from over - even bloody civil wars are not extinguishing women’s efforts to be heard in calling for reform, resistance and even revolution! The activist chorus so effectively captured here includes poetry, academic essays, accounts of organizing experiences and political reflections from more or less successfully democratized countries. Each contribution is a striking solo, but they harmonize nicely, pointing together to the variety of roots of women’s rebellions in 2010 and the diversity of blooms still opening since!"

Myra Marx Ferree

"An amazing, timely, and spectacular contribution to the scholarship on women’s empowerment in the context of the Arab world. The volume brings together works by the field’s most renowned experts. It captures theoretical debates, empirical nuances and a remarkable and sophisticated lens that captures the daily lives and experiences of Arab women. This is a must-read! Stephan and Charrad have assembled a masterpiece!"

Amaney A. Jamal

"In Women Rising, activists, scholars, politicians, and artists tell a compelling story of women’s mobilization before, during, and after the Arab uprising of 2011. Well written and analytically powerful, these essays show us the important role women have played in the struggle for democracy, social justice, and women’s rights across the diverse communities in the region. Pushing the boundaries of the study of feminist resistance, this book will inspire students, scholars, and activists."

Verta Taylor

"Delivers theoretical and empirical insights to the field of Middle East, gender and women’s studies. Stephan and Charrad bring together different stories of resistances and diverse voices of change and thus challenge essentialist and ahistorical readings of women and gender in the region."

Comparative Politics

"Through a reading of Women Rising, one can observe how Arab women’s activism has repositioned following the Arab Spring and increasingly, Arab women are using new modes of mobilizing and organizing to better represent themselves and simultaneously, upset normative ideas of Arab women. This in itself is a reclamation of Arab women’s identity, which as this volume clearly indicates, is not a monolith."

Journal of International Women's Studies

"For educators teaching about the region, selections from the anthology are an excellent source of potential course material ... The editors have done a truly impressive job of collating work by a wide range of individuals writing about a large number of countries."

The Middle East Journal

"A welcomed reaffirmation that women have been and successfully continue to work for change as well as a much needed resource for area scholars and those who want to know women can accomplish."

Al Jadid

"A uniquely stimulating and timely compendium teeming with Arab women’s voices and multiple forms of activism before, during and after the Arab uprisings. Using varied forms of expression, from art and literary production to political commentary, this volume offers a definitive challenge to misrepresentations of Arab women’s agency and their ongoing roles in democratic struggles."

Deniz Kandiyoti

"This exciting and unique collection of essays by Arab activists, politicians, scholars, and others is remarkable in its breadth, covering a wide range of Arab countries and contexts to explore the activism of women before, during and after the Arab Spring uprisings. This important and impressive contribution to the study of women’s activism in the region reveals distinctive features of Arab women’s struggles and the national and local origins of their protests. It shows how women, through their very presence in protests, transformed the relationship of women to public space. Women were emboldened through their organizations; they increased political representation; and made legislative changes. But they also asserted their creative agency through literature, film, street art, the photographic lens, and many other forms of expression."

From the Publisher