Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East: Islamic and Secular Organizations in Egypt

by Wanda Krause

Overview

In the Middle East, and in Egypt in particular, there has always been a tendency to accord complete supremacy to the authority and might of the state, and to see 'society' as a separate, powerless entity. However, after the uprising of 2011, this assumption was turbaned on its head. And it is the wide range of political activity beyond the remit of the official state where Wanda Krause locates a dynamic potential for political change from the bottom up. She looks in particular at the influential role of women's private voluntary organisations in Egypt in shaping concepts of civil society and democracy. Exploring both secular and 'Islamist' organisations, she offers a steadfast critique of the view that Islamic women activists are insignificant, 'backward' or 'uncivil'. Krause's examination of women activists in Egypt today is vital for those interested in Middle East and Gender Studies, as well as those researching the wider issues of civil society and democratisation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848858855
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/15/2012
Series:	Library of Modern Middle East Studies , #118
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Wanda Krause is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Gulf Studies Program at Qatar University. Formerly Teaching Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, she is the author of Women in Civil Society: The State, Islamism and Networks in the UAE (2008).

Table of Contents

Women in Egyptian Civil Society
• Civil Society and Political Participation in the Middle East
• Key Issues for Struggle: Poverty and Marginalization
• Practical Considerations for Methodology and Fieldwork
• The Islamic and Secular as Means of Participation
• Conclusions and Future Research