Abstract
The introduction presents the central argument of the book, namely that the interaction between different types of colonial heritages and various types of post-colonial rule in North Africa created new actors and agents, as well as new ambiguities and dilemmas, that culminated in the so-called Arab Spring and the subsequent developments in which women’s movements have occupied center stage. To address this argument, women’s movements are first contextualized within the overarching historical and political sources of power in North Africa. A presentation of the chapters of the volume follows, with a focus on how they address the book’s argument either conceptually or through country-specific studies. Taken together, the chapters of this book open new venues of research on North African studies and offer possibilities for comparison at the local, regional, and global levels.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Defining North Africa has never been an easy task (see Sadiqi et al. 2009). Although generally seen as the coastal region from Egypt to Mauritania, North Africa has often been associated with similar cultures farther south on the continent. In mainstream Western literature, North Africa is often defined in relation to its Mediterranean and Middle Eastern civilizations, hence the use of “Northern Africa.” In this volume, North Africa is used to refer to the following countries Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania. The last four countries are also referred to as the Maghrib. In other words, North Africa refers to all the states on the northern rim; or not quite as Sudan is included. Also, Chapter Two refers to countries of the Arab Spring which are in West Asia–Syria.
In terms of size, the largest country is Algeria, followed by Libya, then Mauritania, then Egypt, Morocco, and finally Tunisia. As for demographics, Egypt is the most populous country (around 90 million) and Mauritania the least populous one (around 3 million). In between, Sudan counts 45 million (around 11 million in South Sudan), Morocco (around 33 million), Algeria (around 30 million), Tunisia (around 10 million), and Libya (around 7 million). The distribution of these populations is not even. In Egypt most people live in three regions that are considered among the most populated in the world (over 3820 people per square mile): Cairo, Alexandria, and the banks of the Nile. In Sudan, most people live in the north. In Libya, 90 % of the population live along the coasts. In Morocco some 58 % of the population live in cities and are concentrated in the northwestern part of the country, west of the Atlas Mountains. In Algeria, 45 % of the population is urban, with almost 91 % concentrated along the Mediterranean coast. In Tunisia, about three-quarters of the population live in the coastal and urban regions. In Mauritania, most people live in and around the capital, Nouakchott. In terms of economy, the wealthiest countries are Algeria and Libya, with important supplies of petroleum and, in the case of Algeria, natural gas. The rest of the countries rely heavily on a varying mixture of agriculture, migration remittances, and mining. Egypt, Algeria, and Libya experienced highly centralized and planned economies under socialist regimes but started to open to market economy in the 1990s and 2000s. Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, and Mauritania have liberal economies generally governed by the law of supply and demand.
- 2.
These laws were heavily criticized before and after the so-called Arab Spring. The Islamists of Morsi wanted to make the law more conservative and the military of Sissi call for “modernizing it.” What is important from the perspective of this book is that succeeding regimes fragilized the Egyptian family law through frequent and sometimes conflicting changes.
- 3.
The 1979 law is also called “Jihan’s Law,” a pejorative nickname for it and the personal status law of 2000 law is called “Suzanne’s Law,” again a slandering nick name (Margot Badran, Personal communication). As for Egypt, the secular states under Sadat and Mubarak produced the Jihane Sadat and Suzanne Mubarak Laws, respectively, which were heavily criticized in the Arab Spring. The Islamists of Morsi wanted to make the law more conservative and the military of Sissi are calling for “modernizing it.” What is important from the perspective of this book is that succeeding regimes fragilized the Egyptian family law through frequent and sometimes conflicting changes.
- 4.
According to the law first applied only to Muslims, but in 1957 it was extended to cover all Tunisians.
Bibliography
Abun-Nasr, J. (Ed.). (1987). A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Benjamin, B. (2007). al-Gaddafi’s Libya: An Ally for America? The Washington Post.
Dabashi, H. (2012). The Arab Spring. The end of postcolonialism. London: Zed Books.
Gelvin, J. (2012). The Arab Spring. What everyone needs to know. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Perraudin, M., & Zimmerer, J. (2010). German colonialism and national identity. London: Routledge.
Pollack, K. (2011). The Arab awakening: America and the transformation of the Middle East. Washington: Saban Center at Brookings, Brookings Institution Press.
Ramadan, T. (2012). Islam and the Arab awakening. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sadiqi, F., Nowaira, A., El Khouly, A., & Ennaji, M. (Eds.). (2009). Women writing Africa. The Northern Region. New York: The Feminist Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sadiqi, F. (2016). Introduction: The Centrality of Women’s Movements in the Post-revolution Dynamics in North Africa. In: Sadiqi, F. (eds) Women’s Movements in Post-“Arab Spring” North Africa. Comparative Feminist Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50675-7_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50675-7_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-52047-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-50675-7
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)