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A Long Road Ahead for Achieving Fully Fledged Equality: Saudi Women’s Rights Activism

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Authoritarianism in the Middle East
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Abstract

Since the 19th century a strong women’s movement has been active in many Middle Eastern societies, creating a real challenge for the authoritarian governments and the patriarchal social systems. However, international groups and authors continue to generally stress a regressive stance on women’s rights and an imposition of the inferior political, social and economic status of women in Saudi Arabia. Even though “there is no doubt that Saudi Arabia’s legal and social subjugation of women is one of the most repressive in history”(Coughlin, 2006, p. 164), the reality is somewhat more complex than this.

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© 2015 Fulya Doğruel

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Doğruel, F. (2015). A Long Road Ahead for Achieving Fully Fledged Equality: Saudi Women’s Rights Activism. In: Karakoç, J. (eds) Authoritarianism in the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137445551_5

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