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Women, Work, and Economic Reform in the Middle East and North Africa
... This research helps us understand the different types of women's agency in non-Western societies by providing a series of categories. These are: covert resistance (Mullings 1999); active or overt resistance (Moghadam 1998;Tabari and Yeganeh, 1982); acquiescence (Gerami and Lehnerer 2001;Hoodfar 1996;MacLeod 1996); co-optation (Brink 1991;Gerami and Lehnerer 2001;Hegland 1995); subversion (Ebaugh 1993;Gerami and Lehnerer 2001); collaboration (Gerami and Lehnerer 2001); and patriarchal bargaining (Kandiyoti 1988). ...
... Several other scholars, such as Moghadam (1998), Tabari and Yeganeh (1982), Hoodfar (1996), Kandiyoti (1988), Brink (1991), Hegland (1995) and Ebaugh, (1993) describe similar strategies that highlight the different types of activism that women engage in at both the individual and local scales of action. Kandiyoti (1988) provides an interesting overview of how rural women in Kenya, Gambia and Ghana "bargain with patriarchy" through acts of everyday resistance. ...
... The South African women in the study practised political resistance more overtly through categorically disengaging from local government's spaces of civil society participation and favouring invented spaces such as churches and stokvels. The use of covert and overt political resistance amongst women in non-Western societies is also reported in the research of Mullings (1999), Moghadam (1998), and Tabari and Yeganeh (1982). This everyday resistance paradigm represents a symbolic shift by feminists to not only understand alternative forms of struggle but also acknowledge the value of small-scale forms of political activism (Bayat 1997;Lépinard 2011). ...
This article addresses how marginalised black African women in South Africa and Zimbabwe understand themselves as citizens, express agency and practise political resistance. Little research has been done on this topic in Southern Africa, especially in Zimbabwe, making this study particularly relevant. Literature relating to citizenship, agency and the political resistance of women in non-Western society is also discussed. Focus is placed on a case study analysis of women who live in Zimbabwean and South African townships and who self-identify as members of the Ndebele and Zulu ethnic groups respectively. In-depth interviews, which consisted of closed and open-ended questions, were conducted with these women, and each participant also completed a form requiring them to provide socio-demographic information. Content and relational analysis was used to analyse the responses of the participants. The results indicated that these black African women participated politically in invented spaces that typically exist outside of the public political sphere. The women use everyday resistance strategies to negotiate their relationship with the state. These resistance strategies were found to be framed in terms of the women’s daily economic struggles and the structural challenges they faced.
... Aromolaran, 2004;Assaad & Arntz, 2005;Gündüz-Hoşgör & Smits, 2008;Kuepie et al., 2009) and economic development (e.g. Bullock, 1994;Moghadam, 1998;Standing, 1996). ...
... Huntington, 1996; see also Walby, 2009), because they believe there are different paths towards a modern society (e.g. Moghadam, 2003), and because industrialization might not always be conducive to modernization and modernization not to women's employment, depending on the existing cultural-economic system (Lenski & Nolan, 1984;Moghadam, 1998;Ross, 2008) and women's position in agriculture (Bullock, 1994;Pampel & Tanaka, 1986). For instance, oil-driven development is said to foster labourintensive sectors in which hardly any women are employed. ...
... However, these overall effects seem due to a focus on the economic liberalization side of the SAPs, while these programmes often include privatization measures as well. On this, the qualitative literature suggests that women's employment opportunities declined due to privatization because of cuts in the public sector (Moghadam, 1998;Nassar, 2003;Posusney & Doumato, 2003;Pyle & Ward, 2003). ...
She was born in the year 555 CE and was said to be both beautiful and wealthy, coming from a successful business family, and the widow of a rich merchant. She was Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Muhammad’s first wife. After having lost her second husband, she led her own trade business. Laws did not prohibit public activities for women, and as a widow, Khadija had the authority to make her own decisions. The young orphan Muhammad was one of the agents this economically independent woman hired. He turned out to be gifted. At the age of 40, Khadija decided to ask Muhammad (25) to marry her. Thus, she became his first wife.
Khadija also became the first Muslim. When Muhammad received his first revelations, Khadija is said to have been of great moral support and encouraging of his endeavour, besides teaching him how to read and write. Her wealth (housing, network, resources) gave Muhammad the opportunity to perform the task he believed was assigned to him. Till her death (619 CE), Muhammad did not marry another woman.1
This is Khadija’s story. Her story seems contradictory to our common belief as well as against much of what is written in the scientific literature about the (economic) position and role of women in Muslim cultures.
... What contributed to narrowing women's access to the labour market was patriarchal social norms and gendered spaces dominated mainly by men (Kandiyoti, 1998). In the case of the region, the concept of neo-patriarchy, as defined by Moghadam (1998;2020), constitutes a useful lens to capture the interplays between gender relations and capitalist relations in the labour realm. Defined as "the result of the collision of tradition and modernity in the context of oil-based dependent capitalism (…) and limited industrialization", neopatriarchy involves state institutions and organising mechanisms, imposing norms on women's spatial presence and participation in the public realm. ...
... Defined as "the result of the collision of tradition and modernity in the context of oil-based dependent capitalism (…) and limited industrialization", neopatriarchy involves state institutions and organising mechanisms, imposing norms on women's spatial presence and participation in the public realm. Perpetuating the "patriarchal gender contract" (Moghadam, 1998), the patriarchal state(s) have created the conditions for women's labour exclusion, setting several mechanisms favouring men as the breadwinners and confining women to domestic gender regimes. ...
What is the impact of the so-called gig economy on women workers in the Middle East? Does digitalisation represent a catalyst for female labour participation in the region or a burden leading to further financial insecurity and invisibility? How are ordinary women gig workers re-imagining their tech lives and challenging unwritten rules, patriarchy and lack of access to the labour market? Featuring articles analysing case studies in Egypt, Iraq, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, this special issue addresses the abovementioned questions, directly speaking to the academic debate on the global gig economies. Proving a regional and local perspective, it contributes to a more plural understanding of gig work in a multiplicity of contexts, practices and experiences. It investigates the relationship between the daily and the digital to explore the role of platforms in shaping female labour participation and women’s empowerment, as well as issues of precarisation and marginalisation. By proposing a collection of original and pioneering research on an understudied topic as applied to specific contexts in the Middle East, the special issue broadens the analysis of the so-called gig economy beyond a mere economic lens, bringing together multi-disciplinary insights and approaches from sociology, political economy and digital anthropology. It shows that online gig work is neither a crystallised nor monolithic dimension. Instead, platforms - in some instances - have become vectors of formalisation instead of leading only to informality, such as in the case of taxi driving app and home cooking/food delivery, where apps have enhanced more regulation as formality was not the norm before. Women gig workers are re-imagining their roles in their everyday practices of working from home, blurring the lines between the public and the private spheres. They adapt to neoliberal conditions of flexibilisation to sustain their needs in contexts where processes of labour informalisation have long permeated the development of labour relations.
... Unsurprisingly, women's education outcomes determine their ability to meet the requirements of suitable jobs and enter the workforce (Moghadam, 1998). This is of particular importance in the Gulf states, where women have long outnumbered men in the higher education system; indeed, female enrollment is almost double that of male enrollment at the university level (Al-Ammari & Romanowski, 2016). ...
... Within this framework of promising government initiatives, measures to improve welfare regimes that provide flexible avenues for married women's access to the labor force have been launched at the intrastate level. When assessing the institutional impediments of FLFP, it is clear that the lack of legislation and family-friendly policies poses a hurdle to female employment, as it is difficult for women to balance family responsibilities, childcare duties, and work (Assaad et al., 2020;Hayo & Caris, 2013;Moghadam, 1998). It has been observed that women in the Arab Gulf states prefer to work in government jobs (i.e., the public sector); this is especially true of married women because the employment benefits include subsidized childcare, allowances, and paid maternity leave. ...
The aim of this study was to examine the microlevel factors affecting women’s participation in the Qatar workforce, as the gender gap in employment is still wide, and addressing this issue remains an essential item on the government’s policy agenda. Data were collected via a national telephonic survey of a representative sample of Qatari nationals, chosen using simple random sampling. A regression analysis was performed with women’s employment, individual-level characteristics (e.g., age, education, and marital status), and household-level factors (e.g., number of children below 18 years of age and household monthly income) as the variables. The analytical model highlighted the microlevel predictors at the individual level as well as the public attitudes toward societal obstacles that have adverse effects on female labor force participation. The results revealed several indicators that affect women’s participation in the labor force, including education level, marital status, and age. These constructs were found to have the strongest (direct or indirect) effects in terms of pushing Qatari women into the labor market. The originality of this study lies in its ability to explain how state-directed initiatives can encourage women to participate in the labor market and thus facilitate a rapid increase in the number of employed women in Qatar. A methodological limitation of the cross-sectional survey design used in this study is that it limits the causations between the government interventions and the research outcomes. The findings indicate the need for further improvement in welfare regimes at the intrastate level.
... Most studies concerned with the explanation of low female laborforce participation (FLFP) in the MENA region have compared various countries in an attempt to demonstrate the impact of specific economic, political, and cultural features (e.g., Clark, Ramsbey, & Adler, 1991;Doumato & Posusney, 2003;Karshenas, 2001;Moghadam, 1998;Ross, 2008). One problem with such studies is the existence of many uncontrolled historical, geographical, and demographic differences between any two countries. ...
... Yet many scholars claim that resistance to women's rights was part of virtually all societies. They therefore argue that women's ability to achieve greater equality in the MENA region is determined by the same forces operative in other countries, that is, by patterns of industrial and service development, class formation, political alliances, and position within the world system (Cinar, 2001;Hijab, 1988;Miles, 2002;Moghadam, 1998Moghadam, , 2003Posusney & Doumato, 2003;Shami et al., 1990;Shukri, 1996). Substantial differences among various Arab nations in regard to women's economic, legal, and political standing are mobilized to demonstrate that their common past heritage has not prevented some of the region's states from adopting gender egalitarian policies (Cinar, 2001;Hijab, 1988;Shami et al., 1990). ...
This article deals with the question of why the labor force participation of Arab women in MENA region is the lowest among women from all other areas in the world by comparing three Arab Middle-Eastern groups in Israel—Mizrahi Jews who originated in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Muslim Palestinians, and Christian Palestinians. The article starts with a description of the differential treatment of the three Arab groups by the state, and then explores the impact of this differential treatment by analyzing official statistical data. The analysis shows that the pace of change in employment rates has been much slower among the two Palestinian groups than among Jewish women. The findings highlight the role of the state in determining the destiny of various groups. The state pressured Jewish women to enroll in modern institutions, providing them with better education and more work opportunities than offered the Palestinians. Comparing groups that shared similar a patriarchic culture at the outset but that evolved along separate routes thus demonstrates the importance of state policies in determining women’s social standing.
... Some participants attracted attention to the patriarchal dominance in business circles. Turkey is included in Kandiyoti's (1988) "belt of classic patriarchy", an area which involves the Middle East (Only Muslim countries), North Africa, South Asia and North Asia (Moghadam, 1998). In this area, women are limited to the private sphere, while men are agents in the public sphere and female and male domains are separated. ...
Gender inequalities and deeply rooted gender stereotypes create enormous challenges for women in working life. Female academics in Turkey face these challenges and try to overcome them. The current study focused on female leaders' experiences in academia about these challenges. The findings showed that in order to survive in the male dominant working life, some female academics establish sisterhood with other women and enjoy solidarity behaviors, and others try to cope with the hardships via showing crab and queen bee behaviors. Thus, the study presents a portrayal of these three metaphors, queen bee, sisterhood, and crabs in a barrel in academic circles in the country.
... The inclusion of women in the technology industry would give society, families, and children the benefits of education, improved health, economic growth, and reduced poverty (Sharkey & Moghadam, 1998). Communities should focus aiming to employ and involve women in technology and decision-making to maximize benefits in all areas of social, industrial, agricultural, and economic life. ...
There is a massive gap between the number of men and women employed in academia worldwide, especially in the technology field. Jordan suffers from such a lack of gender diversity. In this research, a questionnaire was used to collect demographic, social, obstacle, and discipline-specific data from women about their participation in the technology field in academia. The results showed that women face multiple barriers that prevent their advancement in academia in the information technology field. Supporting women in academia and enabling them can benefit society and women in technology in general, especially at the entry level. For these reasons, Jordanian universities must plan to support women at work in academia in general and in the technology field more specifically.
... These assumptions have been in consensus with much of the literature on women and development of the late 1990s such as Afshar and Dennis (1992& 1992, Beneria and Feldman (1992), Elson (1991), Moghadam (1993Moghadam ( & 1998, Paterson (1995), Sparr (1994), Ward (1990) and March (1999). This literature emphasized gender bias in unemployment, unpaid work, health and education. ...
The objective of this study is to assess the nature of women’s empowerment promoted by the
Sudanese Women General Union (SWGU) in Sudan as a strategy for simultaneously addressing
both poverty alleviation and women's empowerment using microcredit as a tool in the fight
against poverty and women's empowerment at the household level during the period 1999-2005.
The SWGU directed its development efforts towards promoting the women's cause officially and
unofficially through the whole spectrum of governmental institutions and non-governmental
organizations. Therefore, the government supports these initiatives of women's development
processes and assisted in establishing the SWGU in 1990 as strategic planning and coordination
the mechanism for poverty alleviation through the lead of the Ministry of Welfare and Social
Development and with the cooperation from other ministries, government and non-government
organisations at national, state and grassroots levels.
The problem of the research reveals that majority of women in Sudan live with low or no income;
economically they are dependent on their husbands' income; burdened with their household
activities and responsibilities to feed; educate and take care of many children, encounter a core
the problem which is a lack of access to credit and financial services economically, socially and
politically empower themselves and improve their status.
The study reviewed the relevant literature, the context of women's poverty in Sudan, Sudan
poverty strategies and policies, and SWGU's role in strategic planning, coordination, and
implementation of the microcredit programs. The achievements of the study on the socio-economic empowerment of women at the household levels, the constraints, and the
recommendations were summarised.
The researcher carried out this study during the period 2005-2009, to add to the body of the
empirical literature of women studies in particular to the SWGU's microcredit projects best
ii
practices and lessons learned. In addition, the study could help in conducting further women
studies in Sudan and other developing counties.
... The patrilocal household is the key source of controlling women's social, economic and political participation and maintaining their subordination and dependency on men. Similarly, Moghadam (1992Moghadam ( , 1998Moghadam ( , 2004 views patrilineal family as the main factor perpetuating patriarchy in this region. She emphasises that in a patrilineal family, patriarchy is maintained through the strict demarcation of gender roles in which the wife is assigned the household work and care responsibilities, while men hold the authority to monitor her activities in the public domain. ...
In dieser Studie wird untersucht, wie auf Fähigkeiten basierende soziale Erwartungen, die in weibliche Normen eingebettet sind, die Konzeptualisierung von Behinderung beeinflussen und subjektive Strategien zur Aushandlung des Behindertenstatus im Prozess des Werdens einer "behinderten Frau" formen. Ich stützte mich auf die Theorie des sozialen Konstruktivismus (Berger und Luckmann 1966) und untersuchte Erfahrungen von zwanzig körperbehinderten Frauen in Pakistan. Ziel war es, die soziokulturellen Prozesse und Praktiken zu untersuchen, die behinderten Frauen in ihrem Lebensverlauf Wissen über Geschlecht und Behinderung vermitteln. Biographien von drei blinden Frauen wurden für eine detaillierte Fallrekonstruktion ausgewählt. Die Analyse ergab, dass die Interpretation der Behinderung durch die Familie die soziale Integration behinderter Frauen und ihr Verständnis von Behinderung erheblich beeinflusst. In Familien mit einem niedrigeren sozioökonomischen Hintergrund verstärken tief verinnerlichte Weiblichkeitsnormen die soziale Ausgrenzung blinder Frauen. Umgekehrt wurde festgestellt, dass die Familien der Oberschicht aktiv an der Überwindung der Behinderungsbarrieren mitwirken, indem sie behinderten Frauen instrumentelle Unterstützung gewähren. Die Wertschätzung der Familie für die Hochschulbildung ist mit dem Wunsch verbunden, die Heiratsaussichten ihrer jungen, körperlich behinderten Tochter zu verbessern. Die behinderten Frauen sehen jedoch in der Hochschulbildung ein Mittel, um unabhängig zu werden. Da die gesellschaftliche Anerkennung als "Frau" eng mit der Fähigkeit von Frauen verbunden ist, die Erwartungen an die Geschlechterrolle zu erfüllen, beziehen sich körperlich behinderte Frauen stark auf die kulturelle Vorstellung von Weiblichkeit, um dem Behinderungsaspekt ihrer Identität zu widerstehen. Folglich stellen sie die repressiven Normen der Weiblichkeit nicht unbedingt in Frage, obwohl sie gebildete und wirtschaftlich unabhängige Frauen sind.
... 37 However, to the author's knowledge, this literature 36 The distinction between precarious and secure workers, in fact, should be understood not as sociologically clear-cut but as an analytical tool useful to make sense of a highly diverse and interpenetrating continuum. 37 Cairoli 2011;Debuysere 2018;Moghadam 1998;-in English -Barrières 2018;Bouasria 2013;El Aoufi 2000;-in French -Gondino 2015;Turco 2014 -in Italian. The rise of agribusiness, especially in Morocco, has also opened the way for relatively precarious feminised employment in formal sector agriculture (Moreno Nieto 2016). ...
This thesis investigates the divergent role of the trade unions in the 2011 uprisings of
Morocco and Tunisia. In Morocco, most labour confederations supported
constitutional reform that guaranteed the continuity of the incumbent regime. By
contrast, in Tunisia, the Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT) called
regional general strikes that contributed to the downfall of President Ben Ali. These
outcomes appear paradoxical in light of institution-based studies of North African
trade unions before 2011, in which the trade unions’ mobilising potential was
underestimated for “single-trade union” Tunisia and overstated for “union pluralist”
Morocco.
This thesis argues that, although labour institutions significantly mediate social
conflict (or significantly fail to do so), class struggle and class power transcend and
transform labour institutions in ways that are missed by institution-based research.
Such dynamics are innovatively interpreted through an expanded conception of the
working class that goes beyond manual waged workers. In this way, this thesis sheds
new light on the relations between the subjectivities that came to the fore in the 2011
uprisings, particularly precarious youths, and long-standing labour confederations.
The thesis draws on original empirical material, which is interpreted through a
historical sociology framework, which combines autonomist Marxism with elements
of historical institutionalism to see working-class power and labour institutions as
outcomes of previous class struggles.
The historical chapters of the thesis show how different systems of labour
institutions and different levels of working-class power were built in the two countries
since independence through divergent trajectories of class struggle. The chapters
focusing on the 2011 uprisings show how such factors contributed to shaping the role
of the trade unions in the protests. This thesis finds that relatively high levels of
working-class power facilitated a more active role of the trade unions in protests for
social change and contributed – among other factors – to a more extensive change in
a democratic direction. Additionally, workers and trade unions were more likely to
promote social change in an abrupt and insurrectional manner when they faced a
relatively rigid system of labour institutions. By showing how historical rounds of
social and particularly class conflict contributed to shaping the divergent roles of the
trade unions in the 2011 uprisings of Morocco and Tunisia, this thesis fills a significant
gap in the published literature and shows the merits of a historical, class-based, and
struggle-centred approach to studying trade unions.
... Göçün özellikle daha önce iş gücüne katılmamış mülteci kadınların iş gücüne katılımını artıracağı ve bu sayede de hane gelirinin iyileşmesine, geleneksel cinsiyet norm, kimlik ve değerlerinin değişimine ve çocukların güçlenmesine katkı sağlayabileceği görüşünden hareketle (Moghadam, 1998), Suriyeli mülteci kadınların iş gücüne katılımlarını ve bunun toplumsal cinsiyet ilişkilerinde nasıl bir dönüşüme yol açtığını inceleyen birçok araştırma bulunmaktadır. Araştırmamızda elde edilen ampirik veriler literatür bulguları ışığında ele alındığında, Suriyeli mülteci kadınların göç sonrası iş gücüne katılma eğilimlerini ihtiyaç, fırsat ve yaklaşım temelinde ele almak, iş gücüne katılımın hane içinde ve toplumda kadınların statüsünü güçlendirme potansiyelini, kadınların eğitim durumu, medeni hali, çocuk sayısı ve gelir düzeyi gibi faktörler ile ilişkiselliği bağlamında değerlendirme imkânı sunmaktadır. 1 Suriye'de hâkim olan -erkeğin, ailenin reisi olduğu ve hane geliri kazanması gereken esas aktör olarak kabul edildiği-ataerkil sistemde, kadınların iş gücüne katılım oranı düşük seyretmektedir (2019 itibarıyla %14) (World Bank, 2021). ...
2011 yılından itibaren Suriye’de yaşanan iç savaş nedeniyle yaklaşık 4 milyon Suriye vatandaşı Türkiye’ye göç etmek zorunda kalmış ve bu durum hayatlarında çok köklü değişikliklere sebep olmuştur. Göç
karmaşık ve çok katmanlı bir süreç olarak Suriyeliler için hem imkânlar yaratmış hem de yeni yaşam zorluklarını beraberinde getirmiştir. Akademik literatürde karmaşık bir süreç olarak göçün sadece erkekler ve
kadınlar tarafından farklı deneyimlenen bir süreç olmadığı, sosyal statü, eğitim düzeyi, istihdam statüsü gibi sosyal pozisyonların da kadınların göçü farklı deneyimlemelerine sebep olduğu tartışılmaktadır. Bu çıkış
noktasından hareketle bu çalışmada, Suriye’den Türkiye’ye göçün, değişik eğitim düzeyleri ve istihdam statülerine sahip olan Suriyeli kadınlar tarafından farklı tecrübe edildiği tartışılmaktadır. Bu çalışma 2018
yılında Türkiye’nin 5 farklı şehrinden toplam 83 Suriyeli kadın ile yapılan mülakatlardan elde edilen verilerin feminist metodoloji ile yapılan analizine dayanmaktadır. Göç öncesi eğitim olanaklarına erişmiş ve iş gücüne katılmış olan kadınlar için Suriye’den Türkiye’ye göç yeni zorlukları beraberinde getiren ve sosyal statü kaybına neden olan bir deneyim olurken göç öncesi eğitim ve istihdam olanaklarından faydalanamayan kadınlar içinse eğitime ve istihdama katılım, kamusal alana erişim ve aile baskısının azalması gibi imkânlar doğuran bir süreç olarak deneyimlenmektedir.
... For example, in South Korea in 1991 labor force participation was 59.4% for males and 44.2% for females. According to Moghadam (1998), the increase in FLFP over time results from advances made in females' educational attainment and the expansion of the market economy. ...
... During the last two decades, women's participation in the labour force in the developed and developing countries has tended to follow changing patterns and trends accompanying the global economic restructuring, which has led to an increase in women's participation in the manufacturing sector (particularly, the export-led industries). However, with worsened work conditions and falling wages, a large number of women entered the informal sector (this sector also grew after the introduction of SAPs and privatisation), as documented by feminist researchers, such as Moghadam (1998), where Sudan was part of this global order. Although Sudanese women were increasingly taking up paid employment for quite a long time, this was characterised by 'four' key elements. ...
... As an alternative to the conventional labor supply model, economists undertaking gender and development research have identified a number of constraints on women's employment. Moghadam (1998) summarizes these constraints as: (i) household inequalities and traditional sexual division of labor; (ii) the broad gender ideology operating in the society; (iii) the legal system and regulatory framework; (iv) social and physical infrastructure; and (v) economic conditions and policies. Some of these constraints are argued to affect MENA countries more strongly because of the cultural restrictions that Islam imposes on women. ...
This paper analyzes different trajectories followed by Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries with regard to feminization of the labor force. It uses accounting decomposition analysis for the manufacturing sector employment in eight MENA countries from 1983 to 2013. Overall feminization has been weak in the region, even for the best-performing countries. The trends in feminization are driven by labor-intensive industries, particularly textile and clothing, with Jordan being an exception with feminization in capital-intensive industries. As traditionally ‘female’ jobs lose their significance with structural transformation and capital deepening, manufacturing employment opportunities for women disappear, confirming the defeminization literature.
... 42 At the same time, she observed that fertility decreases married women's likelihood of working when children are young. Additionally, Acar 43 points to the lack of childcare as an obstacle for women returning to work while I˙lkkaracan 44 and Moghadam 45 emphasize the unequal division of labour in the home as preventing women from entering the labour market. Moreover, Kardam and Toksöz assert that women are prevented from entering the labour force by prevailing cultural attitudes which continue to define women in terms of their domestic role. ...
... Outside homes these decisions about women within a community are also controlled by communal, tribal or feudal heads. This social arrangement has been given name as the patriarchal "gender contract" (Moghadam 1998). Apt to this situation is Moghadam's (2004) description that in patriarchal societies if women have to appear in public sphere, she has to go through male patriarchs at different level. ...
This paper focuses on discriminatory social practices fostering crime against women and the corresponding laws in Pakistan. Based on analysis of both primary and secondary data, it gives a picture of prevailing crimes against women in Pakistani society and explores the evil social practices that foster these crimes. Pakistani laws are also found lacking to curb different forms of violence against women in past. The overall patriarchal social arrangement with its male domination, cultural norms, women's segregation in private sphere of home, unfavorable attitude of law enforcing agencies, customary to not report crime against women to police, lack of women's education and political participation are considered as reasons for persistence of anti women social practices and discriminatory laws. Recent increased in women's participation in political forums and the law amendments done to protect women are considered as harbinger of change. The paper also provides recommendations to curb crime against women in Pakistan.
... According to the MENA report (Roudi-Fahimi & Moghadam, 2003) the culture of conservative patriarchal societies rigidly enforces traditional unequal gender roles resulting in the present economic structure, against all social justice principles. This was noted earlier (Khoury, 2001;Moghadam, 1998) where women are confined to the home or allowed beyond only with a male relative protector. Usually they must have male permission for employment, travel, loans and in Jordan, inherit only half of a male share of family money, according to law. ...
With overpopulation, surrounding wars, incoming refugees, insufficient natural resources and dependent on aid for survival, Jordan possesses tourism and an educated population as assets to strategies. Based on the ideal of social justice, this developing nation can utilize the concept of corporate social responsibility to encourage businesses, provide land and employ its educational assets for their benefit. It can thus commodity its educational facilities; pair with neighboring lesser educated nations for educational provision, and exercise Ministerial powers in government administration to set up “brain-drain” scholarships, joint international tertiary universities with subsequent employment and regional development. Half the population (women) could be empowered by allowing and providing employment by protected internships, if social mores of patriarchy could be loosened. This would begin female emancipation, increase social justice, profits and consumption, consequently improving sustainable economic benefits.
... Some gender biases are even manifested in culture, and there is a demand for societies to change their outlook (Ortner, 1972) to enable women do the work of their choice (Heilman, 1997;Heilman and Eagly, 2008). At worst, such barriers might reduce the participation of women, and cause inequalities in pay and promotion on the one hand, or they might increase the hiring costs on the other hand (Hijab, 1988;Miles, 2002;Moghadam, 1998;Assaad and Arntz;. However, women's own belief and self-efficacy can enable them to contain some of these threats (Hutchings et al., 2010). ...
Purpose
The participation and productivity of women in Oman’s labor force are very low and heavily skewed toward the government sector. There are few women in the private sector and the reasons for this are not well-known. The challenges that women workers face specifically in the Arab World are worth understanding from a participation and policy perspective. The purpose of this paper is to explore employers’ perceptions of women workers and the major challenges they face in Oman in the context of government efforts to develop the female workforce in this Middle East region.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collected by interviewing the top executives (employers) from 28 organizations in two major cities in Oman were analyzed qualitatively, grouped into emerging themes, triangulated, and discussed.
Findings
The results indicated that employers, in general, are impressed by women workers in Oman. However, they identify a number of challenges women face. This study synthesized and grouped employers’ perceptions of these challenges in the following categories: women’s natural and physiological composition, their attitude at work, post-marital challenges, socio-cultural barriers, nature and place of work, organizational preparedness and governance, biases or prejudices of employers, and work-life balance (WLB) issues facing them.
Practical implications
This study suggests that since female participation in the government sector in Oman is substantial, women can also be attracted to work in the private sector if policies are formulated to safeguard their interests.
Originality/value
There is an absolute dearth of studies about female participation in the Omani workforce; this study is one of the pioneering efforts. Whereas the extant literature on WLB issues represents mostly the western perspective, this study highlights the major WLB issues in Oman and fills some important gaps between the West and the Middle East by focusing on women, WLB, and policies triangle.
... The oil boom of the 1970s was followed by the bust of the 1980s and the eventual implementation of structural adjustment policies. Moghadam (1998) argues that the implementation of neoliberal policies made it harder for women to work with the retrenchment of jobs in the public sector. ...
... Moreover, despite the fact that employed women often experience a "double shift" of job plus housework, many studies nonetheless find that employment has a positive effect on women's health (Frech and Damaske 2012;Mirowsky and Ross 2003;Repetti, Matthews, and Waldron 1989). Employed women are also more likely to participate in politics (Schlozman, Burns, and Verba 1999), and women's employment may help transform gender relations on a national level (Casper and Bianchi 2002;Cherlin 2010;Goldin 2006;Moghadam 1998Moghadam , 1999. 2 Several scholars look at the relationship between religiosity and employment among Christian and Jewish women in the United States (Chadwick and Garrett 1995;Glass 2008, 2014;Glass and Jacobs 2005;Glass and Nath 2006;Hartman and Hartman 1996;Heaton and Cornwall 1989;Lehrer 1995Lehrer , 2004Lehrer , 2008Lehrer and Chen 2013;Sherkat 2000;Wilder and Walters 1998). Since this study is focused on Islam, I do not survey that work here. ...
Does Muslim women’s religiosity deter them from paid work outside the home? I extend this question to Muslims in the United States, where the Muslim community is both ethnically and socioeconomically diverse and where this question has not yet been answered. I pool data from the 2007 and 2011 Pew Research Center surveys of American Muslims, the only large, nationally representative samples of Muslims in the United States, and use logistic regression models to analyze the relationship between religiosity and Muslim women’s employment. I find that mosque attendance is positively associated with employment, whereas other measures of religiosity have no significant effect. Education, ethnicity, and childbearing, on the other hand, are strong, consistent predictors of Muslim women’s employment. These findings suggest that practicing Islam, in itself, does not deter American Muslim women’s engagement in paid work.
... The oil boom of the 1970s was followed by the bust of the 1980s and the eventual implementation of structural adjustment policies. Moghadam (1998) argues that the implementation of neoliberal policies made it harder for women to work with the retrenchment of jobs in the public sector. ...
Despite decades of increased access to education, women’s conspicuous absence from the labour market in Egypt, and the Middle East in general, has been the focus of a large body of research. These studies have often focused on the role of culture and the regional political economy trajectory in curbing the potential of women’s participation in the labour market. This study seeks to address the interplay of social policies, family and culture in defining women’s employment decisions in Egypt. Building on the stock of evidence on women’s employment in Egypt, this study provides qualitative data through in-depth interviews with both married and unmarried working women in Egypt to explicate this process. In their own voices, the study documents the torrent of challenges educated women face as they venture into the labour market. Single women highlighted job scarcity and job quality challenges pertaining to low pay, long hours, informality, and workplace suitability to gender norms as key challenges. For married working women, the conditions of the work domain are dwarfed by the other challenges of time deprivation and weak family and social support. The paper highlights women’s calculated and aptly negotiated decisions to either work or opt out of the labour market within this complex setting. The analysis emphasises the role of social policies in the domains of employment, social security, housing and education in this process; and how inhospitable working conditions and compromised support often make opting out a sensible decision. This, in turn, augments regressive values of female domesticity. The paper urges serious discussion of women’s employment as an area for policy action not just culture.
... Being employed not only brings advantages to women in terms of earning money, economic independence, and selffulfillment (Moghadam 1998) but also may lead women to take health-protective actions. As Naviar Sen et al. (2016) study indicates, workforce participation may increase women's cancer-screening behaviors. ...
The special issue aimed to focus on quantitative research articles covering gender and women’s issues in Islamic cultures which have not received sufficient attention. The present issue of gender and women’s issues in these cultures adds important information about topics such as the roles of honor, religiosity, and sexism as they interact with gender. In the special issue there are six quantitative research articles focusing on various topics relevant to honor, sexism, economic, and health issues. A study from Turkey examines the associations among benevolent sexism, hostile sexism, religiosity, and the endorsement of honor beliefs in Turkey. Another explores the effects of religious affiliation, patriarchy, and gender on the perception of honor-related crimes in Morocco, Cameroon, and Italy. Views about family issues are explored in a paper from North Cyprus that explores the associations among hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, religiosity, and attitudes toward childlessness. In another paper, researchers from Turkey investigate job-relevant gender issues such as work engagement, job insecurity, and turnover intentions. Finally, women’s health in Muslim cultures is the focus of papers on health screening behaviors in Turkey and on factors relevant to menopausal symptoms of women in Pakistan. In the introduction, the main purposes of the special issue articles are introduced. Then, the importance of studying honor, sexism, religiosity, the economic situation of women, and women’s health issues in Islamic cultures are covered. Some suggestions for future studies and implication and applications of the research findings also are discussed. Finally, limitations of the special issue are presented.
... The labour markets in the AMCs are characterised by low female participation. This in combination with high unemployment results in very low female employment (UNDP 2006;Moghadam 1998;Azzam et al. 1985). ...
The current analysis was structured to identify the impact of socioeconomic factors (age, education, employment status, head of household income and no. of dependents) on work satisfaction and earning of women in D.G. Khan, the city of southern Punjab of an underdeveloped area of Pakistan. Primary data was collected via distributing 450 questionnaires, 320 useable responses were available for analyses. Simple descriptive analysis, OLS method and logit model was used to analyze the data. Result revealed that age, education level, employment status and head of household or husband's monthly income level have significant impact on women's work satisfaction, while number of dependents negatively manipulated on work satisfaction. This study contributes to reveal the socioeconomic determinants for job satisfaction of women working in underdeveloped areas of Pakistan while identifying main constraints facing by such women to participate in labor market. There is food for thought for government and non-government organizations to define the policies for development of such working women who are working in deprived areas of Pakistan.
Purpose
The objectives of this study are twofold: (1) to investigate whether the increase in FLFP enriches women's inclusive rights (economic, social, and political), (2) whether the effect of FLFP on inclusive rights is different across different economics (developed vs developing).
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilizes panel data encompassing 188 countries spanning the years 1981–2011. Discrete choice models, namely ordered probit and ordered logit, are employed, while also controlling for observable heterogeneity across countries, including factors such as inflation, income inequality, education, and human rights.
Findings
We find a positive association between FLFP and all aspects of women's rights (economic, social, and political). The results related to developed and underdeveloped countries are robust for women's political rights; however, the effect of FLFP on women's social and economic rights is insignificant for developing countries.
Originality/value
The need for continuous policy commitment to gender equality may be needed to bring about equality of inclusive rights (economic, social, and political rights) and to fulfill the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Therefore, the current study particularly adds value in existing research by investigating (empirically) the link between FLFP and different dimensions of women's inclusive rights.
Introduction
Low back pain (LBP) represents the leading cause of disability worldwide and is a major economic and welfare problem. This study aimed to report incidence, prevalence, and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) rates of LBP in Iran by gender and different sociodemographic index (SDI) countries from 1990 to 2019.
Methods
The age-standardized LBP and incidence, prevalence, and DALY were extracted based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 in Iran for males and females, and low- and high-SDI countries during 1990- 2019.
Results
GBD 2019 data for LBP in Iran indicate a significant downward trend of incidence and prevalence from 1993 to 2019 in males, females, and both, except during the 1999-2002 period for females. A sharp reduction is seen in LBP incidence and prevalence from 1996 to 1999. Gender is not a determining factor in the LBP prevalence in Iran. Regarding the SDI categories, Iran had the highest incidence rate compared to countries with low- and high SDIs. High-SDI countries had the highest prevalence and DALY compared with Iran and low-SDI countries.
Conclusion
The age-standardized incidence and prevalence of LBP in Iran showed a downward trend, from 1993 to 2019, especially from 1996 to 1999. Comparing Iran with low- and high-SDI countries, a heavier incidence of LBP was observed in Iran and heavier prevalence and DALY were seen in high-SDI countries. Therefore, more therapeutic healthcare interventions are required to reduce the LBP burden more effectively.
Using the quantitative method to collect data from 400 respondents, the main focus of this
study was to establish the nexus between local women's initiatives and the economic
wellbeing of inhabitants in the study area. Their initiatives in the aspects of involvement in
agricultural production, rural education, encouragement of women's membership in
cooperative societies, and socio-economic impact have been specifically examined. The study
was sustained on the functionalist perspective. The research design was a survey while the
multi-stage sampling technique was adopted. The data obtained were analyzed using
descriptive statistics and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient. Findings
revealed that a significant relationship exists between involvement in agricultural
production, involvement in rural education, and promotion of membership in cooperative
societies and the socio economic wellbeing of inhabitants. The study concluded that local
women's initiatives are essential strategies for the enhancement of the socio economic well�being of inhabitants of rural communities. The policy implication is that women should be
encouraged in their local initiatives, especially in agricultural production, through extension education and accessibility to loans, in order to arrest the relative stagnation of agriculture
and reduce rural poverty.
Why were some, but not all the Arab mass social protests of 2011 accompanied by relatively quick and nonviolent outcomes in the direction of regime change, democracy, and social transformation? Why was a democratic transition limited to Tunisia, and why did region-wide democratization not occur? After the Arab Uprisings offers an explanatory framework to answer these central questions, based on four key themes: state and regime type, civil society, gender relations and women's mobilizations, and external influence. Applying these to seven cases: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, Valentine M. Moghadam and Shamiran Mako highlight the salience of domestic and external factors and forces, uniquely presenting women's legal status, social positions, and organizational capacity, along with the presence or absence of external intervention, as key elements in explaining the divergent outcomes of the Arab Spring uprisings, and extending the analysis to the present day.
Recent studies describe Jordan as a context where the encounter between modernity and tradition in the framework of neo-liberal transformations in the labour market have brought about paradoxes affecting women’s lives. Despite several policies to implement gender equality introduced by the government, the rapid reduction of the gender gap in education experienced in the last decades is slow to be carried over into areas of social and economic life. Stemming from this backdrop, this article aims at contributing to the scholarly discussion about the influence of patriarchal constructs in Jordanian educational and labour market. The article considers textbooks as tools for social change and focuses on qualitative and quantitative analysis of a sample of most recent student books addressing the entry, middle and final stages of primary education in mathematics. By providing a detailed analysis of gendered representations in the sample, the article highlights the implementation of relevant strategies to safeguard gender inclusion and equity. At the same time, it points at the underrepresentation of female role models and at the reiteration of some stereotypical social constructs, especially representing women as alienated from specific working sectors as the vocational one.
Recent decades have witnessed both a renewed energy in feminist activism and widespread attacks taking back hard-won rights. Despite powerful feminist movements, the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly undermined the progress women have struggled for decades to achieve; how can this be? What explains this paradox of a strong feminist movement coexisting with stubborn patriarchal arrangements? How can we stop the next global catastrophe initiating a similar backlash? This book suggests that the shortcomings of social theory prevent feminist strategies from initiating transformative changes and achieving permanent gains. It investigates the impact of theoretical shortcomings upon feminist strategies by engaging with two clusters of work: ungendered accounts of capitalist development and theories on gendered oppression and inequality. Decentring feminist theorising grounded in histories and developments of the global North, the book provides an original theory of the patriarchal system by analysing changes within its forms and degrees as well as investigating the relationship between the gender, class and race-ethnicity based inequalities. Turkey offers a case that challenges assumptions and calls for rethinking major feminist categories and theories thereby shedding light on the dynamics of social change in the global South. The timely intervention of this book is, therefore, crucial for feminist strategies going forward.
The book emerges at the intersections between Gender, International Development, Political Economy, and Sociology and its main readership will be found in, but not limited to these disciplinary fields. The material covered in this book will be of great interest to students and researchers in these areas as well as policy makers and feminist activists.
Google books: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=cHhvEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT5&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false
Publisher: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003054511/political-economy-patriarchy-global-south-ece-kocab%C4%B1%C3%A7ak
Mit Blick auf die Geschlechterverhältnisse wird der Islam häufig als modernitätsfeindliches religiöses und kulturelles System verstanden und einem westlichen Emanzipationsverständnis gegenübergestellt. Die Beiträge dieses Bandes zeigen, wie unverzichtbar differenzierende und interdisziplinäre Perspektiven sind, die sich auf die Vielfalt des Islam (auch in Europa), seine unterschiedlichen religiösen Strömungen, Lebensformen und Vorstellungen von Geschlechterordnungen richten. Diskutiert wird die Beziehung zwischen Islam, Geschlecht und Menschenrechten. Dabei kommt das Potenzial der reform-islamischen Ansätze zur Sprache, die nicht nur eine Herausforderung für die politischen Richtungen des Islam darstellen, sondern sich auch am Konzept der Gleichheit bei der Auslegung des islamischen Rechts im Hinblick auf die Geschlechterverhältnisse orientieren.
This chapter offers an analysis of two parallel trends in Burundi’s convulsed politics: firstly, how electoral boycotts and the lack of participation in the governing institutions on behalf of the political opposition have contributed to democratic reversals and have reinforced political instability. Secondly, how the authoritarian tendencies of the ruling party lead to the same outcome by eroding democratic values. I argue that, democratic reversals in Burundi have been a result of anti-democratic decisions based on the absence of ideology, the failure to actively participate in political life, the authoritarian attitude of the leadership and the focus on power and wealth rather than on responding to the needs of the people.
This chapter historicizes the evolution of Sudanese women’s activism beginning with the facets of the former regime's Islamization project. It highlights how women’s bodies and ideas of morality and respectability are employed by the state as sites of control, effectively revealing the key mobilizing points of the Sudanese women’s movement post-1989. The chapter examines the ways in which the political context in Sudan has influenced space for activism and explores responses to the erasure of civic space. In uncovering the overlooked nuances emerging from the #FallThatIsAll movement, the chapter engages with the change in discourse surrounding women’s activism and underlines the sustenance of feminist resistance as constant, be it under oppressive regimes or popular uprisings.
Tunisia's legacy of “state feminism” and its strong civil society—including human rights, labor, and women's rights organizations—have placed Tunisian women in advance of their Arab sisters, and women are present across an array of professions and occupations. Still, most Tunisian women remain outside the labor force, face precarious forms of employment, or are unemployed. This article examines women's employment patterns, problems, and prospects in the light of an untoward economic environment, conservative social norms, and feminist advocacy. Drawing on interview and documentary data, and informed by feminist political economy and institutionalism, it highlights the importance of institutional supports for working mothers and improved work conditions to encourage more female economic participation and stronger labor-force attachment and thus to weaken patriarchal attitudes and values. The paper points to the need for both class-based and gender-based policies with respect to women's economic participation and rights.
This chapter explores the limits of and prospects for women's entrepreneurship in patriarchal communities. The chapter investigates the patriarchal institutions and societal norms which work against women's entrepreneurial activities and women's presence in socioeconomic life in general. It also delves into women's strategies to bargain, deal, and cope with patriarchal norms and institutions. The research is based on an extensive fieldwork on the case of Turkey, a country replete with patriarchal norms and institutions. The author conducts in-depth semi-structured interviews with members of women's cooperatives throughout Turkey to better understand and explain the obstacles against women's entrepreneurship in patriarchal societies and how women deal with these obstacles in their daily, entrepreneurial practices. In light of the fieldwork findings, the chapter concludes with policy implications and recommendations for more egalitarian and prosperous societies.
Despite increased access to education, women's conspicuous absence from the labour market in Egypt, and the Arab world in general, has been a key issue. Building on the stock of evidence on women's employment, this study provides a qualitative analysis of the torrent of challenges that educated married and unmarried women face as they venture into the labour market in Egypt. Single women highlight constrained opportunities due to job scarcity and compromised job quality. Issues of low pay, long hours, informality and workplace suitability to gender propriety norms come to the fore in the interview data. Among married working women, the conditions of the work domain are compounded by challenges of time deprivation and weak family and social support. The article highlights women's calculated and aptly negotiated decisions to work or opt out of the labour market in the face of such challenges. The analysis takes issue with the culturalist view that reduces women's employment decisions to ideology. It brings to the context of Arab countries three global arguments pertaining to the inseparability of work and family for women; the role of social policies and labour market conditions in defining women's employment decisions; and the potential disconnect between employment and empowerment. By looking at women as jobseekers and workers, the analysis particularly highlights the intersectionality of different forms of inequality in defining employment opportunities.
Generally seen as a pawn in the identity struggle between so-called secular and Islamist political actors, the women's question in Tunisia has received little attention from a class perspective since the 2010–11 uprising. Yet, over recent years, working-class women have been highly visible during protests, strikes and sit-ins of a socio-economic nature, implicitly illustrating how class and gender grievances intersect. Against the background of the global feminisation of poverty and a changing political economy of the North African region over recent decades, this article builds on Nancy Fraser's theory of (gender) justice to understand if and how women's informal and revolutionary demands have been included in more formal politics and civil society activism in Tunisia. The article finds that disassociated struggles against patriarchy (feminism) and neoliberal capitalism (unionism) fail to efficiently represent women workers’ own aspirations in Tunisia's nascent democracy.
Women's activism in the Middle East has a major role in alerting women, families, and social actors to the importance of integrating women in economic, social, and cultural development. Further measures in favor of protecting women's rights are badly needed to guarantee their empowerment and contribution to development and democratization. However, there are hurdles blocking women's emancipation and legal rights in the region. Most countries have not agreed to all the articles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the quota system is not officially recognized in most constitutions, which implies that the representation of women depends on the political agendas of individual leaders. There is also weak commitment by many governments in the region to protect women from violence, especially domestic violence, and concerning their legal rights in police investigations, sanctions, and as victims of violence.
An in-depth survey of literature in different fields of the social sciences on women’s participation in the informal sector and unpaid work in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) reveals that women participate in a variety of economic activities. Many women, however, have to choose working in the informal sector (or work without pay) because they live in deep-rooted patriarchal societies. Two important aspects of patriarchy in MENA play major roles in this regard: first, the rigid separation between public spheres (which are the domain of men) and the private spheres; second, the ideal model of male breadwinner/female homemaker-caregiver. Patriarchal beliefs and practices tend to devalue the contribution of women to the economic well-being of their families which consequently makes women’s work invisible to labor statistics.
What is empowerment? Is empowerment a static concept, or does it constantly vary and transform across time and different contexts? How can empowerment be studied amid societal and political transformation? Is it time to abandon the long-standing cultural paradigm applied to the study of gender and usher in a new era of feminist studies—one with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of women’s issues across the MENA region? To answer these questions, the analyses presented in this book shed light on some of the most critical issues impeding the advancement of women’s rights, such as patriarchy and Islam, barriers to women’s agency in the legal and socioeconomic realms, women’s access to the decision-making process, citizenship rights, and the impact of conflict on women’s status.
Whether work is performed for household members’ consumption (subsistence work) or for sale to others (market work), it may be an enabling resource for women’s agency, or their capacity to define and act upon their goals. The present paper asks: Do women who engage in market work have higher agency in the three domains of economic decision-making, freedom of movement, and equitable gender role attitudes, compared to those who engage in subsistence work and those who do not work? To address this question, we leverage data from a probability sample of ever-married women in rural Minya, Egypt (N = 600). We use structural equation models with propensity score adjustment to estimate the relationship between women’s work and three domains of their agency. We find no effect on gender attitudes or decision making. However, women’s subsistence and market work are associated with increasingly higher factor means for freedom of movement, compared to not working. We conclude that in rural Minya, the relationship between women’s work and their agency depends on the type of work they perform and the dimension of agency under consideration, with the rewards of market work exceeding those of subsistence work in the domain of freedom of movement alone.
In his monumental and seminal book Capital in the Twenty-first Century, Thomas Piketty (2014) meticulously analyzes and presents the cross-country dynamics of income inequality over the past two centuries. He offers a myriad of underlying factors and trends that have over time led to vast wealth and power accumulation of a few and limited upward mobility for the rest. His main argument is that in order to gain wealth and opportunity, birth matters more than effort or talent.
Moroccan women’s participation in political life is an essential component of the country’s democratization and modernizing processes. Their political involvement has benefited from fundamental global economic changes, from national and international support for the country’s social and political reforms, from changes in political priorities and the growing importance of democracy in the world, as well as from the increased role of women’s movements worldwide (Ennaji, 2007).
That social policy is gendered is now a truism in the feminist literature. But what are the different patterns of (gendered) social policy formation and implementation across regions in the world economy? In the Middle East, for example, what are the state policies, practices and institutions that directly influence the welfare and security of various groups within a particular society, especially as far as women are concerned? And if social policy is partly about protecting against risks and contingencies while also providing social equity, do all social policies serve to expand women’s citizenship? In this chapter I examine the gendered nature of social policy in Iran, with a focus on the problems associated with women’s economic citizenship that have resulted from Iran’s economic structure and its cultural/ideological institutions. An oil-dependent economy and gender relations codified in Muslim family law have had implications for women’s access to employment and economic resources, as well as overall citizenship.
This paper interprets the pressure to raise Palestinian-Israeli women’s labor force participation within the unfolding neoliberal project in Israel, arguing that women’s stalled workforce integration reflects embedded economic rationality. Poor infrastructure and discriminatory policies, combined with Israel’s rapid economic privatization, set contradictory expectations for Palestinian-Israeli women: their opportunity-cost calculations include entitlements to economic protection alongside obligations to provide expenditure-saving domestic labor. Yet growing pressure and desire to join the paid workforce suggest that the gender contract may be changing. This cultural schema, which links women’s economic strategizing to their sense of feminine propriety, is transforming as part of a broader transition to a market-led gender regime, with the paradoxical effect of encouraging women’s employment while simultaneously impoverishing them. By dwelling on the dialectics of culture and the structure of work opportunities, and women’s agency, this paper aims to resolves an impasse in the current debate on women’s low workforce participation.
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