One lesson from the 1979 Iranian revolution and the 2011 Arab revolutions is that activists seeking to promote women’s rights, human rights and the transition to democracy must challenge patriarchy from within the Muslim legal tradition.
The failure to translate the momentum of the heady days of the January 2011 protests in Egypt into an effective revolutionary force is closely related to the organisational forms adopted by oppositional movements. This poses broader questions for social movements worldwide, argues Maha Abdelrahman
The statement issued by the Muslim Brotherhood in response to the UN Commission on the Status of Women draft Agreed Conclusions on violence against women, is nothing short of an assault on their most basic rights as citizens and human beings, says Hoda Elsadda ,
Despite parallels with Iran, Haideh Moghissi notes more hopeful prospects for the future of women’s rights and democracy in post-Arab spring regimes
The displays of masculine assertiveness by the football ultras in Egypt and their strongly gendered form of youth activism points to the need to look beyond clichés about unspecified notions of revolutionary youth. Initially opposed to state authorities, are the ultras refashioning themselves as n
On February 12, 2013, women of the Middle East, in the region and in the Diaspora, officially and publicly re-appropriated shame and honour. Suddenly, they are wearing the experience of surviving sexual terrorism and violence as a badge of honour, using their tragedy to fight for an end to violenc
The eruption of protests, violence and civil disobedience in Egypt this month is a replay of the scene in 2011 before the status quo was ruptured, but the current regime’s attacks on women and religious minorities in order to quell opposition is more pervasive than anything seen before, argues Mar
إن وضع حلقات العنف ضد المرأة الذي تلا الربيع العربي لإظهارها كمثال روتيني للمجتمع الذكوري وحلفائه ممن لا يثقون بالمرأة في مجتمعات بعينها قد يقي أصحاب السلطة من مزيد من التقصي والتدقيق بشكل غير متعمد. لم يعد الرهان على المرأة وجسمها بل على الجسم السياسي بحد ذاته. هكذا تجادل دينيز كانديوتي
Putting episodes of post-Arab spring violence against women down to a routine manifestation of patriarchy and its allied misogyny in the societies concerned may unwittingly shield power-holders from more searching scrutiny. What is at stake is no longer just women and their bodies but the body pol
Fears that Egypt’s constitution will be used to inhibit freedoms and enhance the powers of the Islamists in power have already proven to be well founded. The new constitution makes the entire governance system subject to the strictures of Islamic jurisprudence, argues Mariz Tadros
The appointment of two Somali women in key ministerial posts must not mask the massive day to day persecution of women in Somalia, says Hala al-Karib
Placed between the First Lady and the Diplomat at the recent Trust Women conference on the 'Arab spring', Ala'a Shehabi argues that in order to foster constructive engagement with the global south, the media, international donors and policy makers should recognise the radical social shifts towards
