States and Women's Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria, and MoroccoAt a time when the situation of women in the Islamic world is of global interest, here is a study that unlocks the mystery of why women's fates vary so greatly from one country to another. Mounira M. Charrad analyzes the distinctive nature of Islamic legal codes by placing them in the larger context of state power in various societies. Charrad argues that many analysts miss what is going on in Islamic societies because they fail to recognize the logic of the kin-based model of social and political life, which she contrasts with the Western class-centered model. In a skillful synthesis, she shows how the logic of Islamic legal codes and kin-based political power affect the position of women. These provide the key to Charrad's empirical puzzle: why, after colonial rule, women in Tunisia gained broad legal rights (even in the absence of a feminist protest movement) while, despite similarities in culture and religion, women remained subordinated in post-independence Morocco and Algeria. Charrad's elegant theory, crisp writing, and solid scholarship make a unique contribution in developing a state-building paradigm to discuss women's rights. This book will interest readers in the fields of sociology, politics, law, women's studies, postcolonial studies, Middle Eastern studies, Middle Eastern history, French history, and Maghrib studies. |
Contents
COMMON HERITAGE OF THE MAGHRIB | 15 |
An Unorthodox View | 28 |
Gender Unity | 51 |
Power of the Tribe | 68 |
HISTORICAL DIFFERENCES | 85 |
French Strategies | 114 |
THREE PATHS TO NATIONSTATE AND FAMILY LAW | 145 |
Algeria | 169 |
Conclusion StateBuilding Family Law | 233 |
Glossary | 243 |
301 | |
319 | |
327 | |
Other editions - View all
States and Women's Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria, and ... Mounira Charrad No preview available - 2001 |
States and Women's Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria, and ... Mounira Charrad No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
Abun-Nasr administrative agnatic Algeria Algerian Family Code alliances anticolonial autonomy ayla Berber Borrmans Bourguiba bride price central authority century Clifford Geertz colonial period colonial rule conflicts cousins customary codes customary law dissidence divorce elite endogamy Ernest Gellner example extended patrilineage faction Family Code femme French colonial Geertz gender guerrilla Hermassi husband Ibid inheritance Islamic family law Islamic law issue Istiqlal John Ruedy Kabyle Kabylia kin-based solidarities kinship structure Lacoste leaders leadership lineage Maghrib makhzan male Maliki Maliki law marriage Micaud Middle East modern monarchy Moroccan Morocco Mudawwana Muslim nation-state nationalist struggle North Africa Paris paternal patrilineage percent political polygamy population precolonial qaids rebellion reformist region relatives religious repudiation Ruedy rural segments Sharia social Statut personnel strategy sultan territory tribal areas tribal groups tribal kin groupings tribal organization tribes Tunis Tunisia Waterbury wife woman women women's rights Youssef