Nadje Al-Ali's book explores the anthropological and political significance of secular-oriented activism by focusing on the women's movement in Egypt; in so doing, it challenges stereotypical images of Arab women as passive victims. The argument is constructed around interviews that afford insights into the history of the movement, its activities and its goals. The author frames her work around current theoretical debates in Middle Eastern and postcolonial scholarship.
Author(s): Nadje Al-Ali
Series: Cambridge Middle East Studies
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2000
Language: English
Pages: 284
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Dedication......Page 9
Contents......Page 11
Acknowledgements......Page 12
Note on transliteration......Page 14
Human rights organizations......Page 15
Networks based on specific issues......Page 16
Abbreviations......Page 17
Introduction......Page 19
Conceptual considerations......Page 21
Typology of women’s activism......Page 25
The ethnographic field......Page 26
Negotiating multiple allegiances......Page 30
The research process......Page 32
Active readership......Page 34
Organization of the book......Page 35
1 Up against conceptual frameworks: post-orientalism, occidentalism and presentations of the self......Page 37
The post-colonial turn......Page 38
Beyond Orientalism......Page 40
Occidentalism: the other side of the coin?......Page 44
Egypt’s gateway: dislocation of us versus them......Page 51
Presentations of self......Page 54
Recovering (from) identity......Page 57
Nationalisms and national identities in Egypt......Page 58
Nationalism, gender and feminist politics......Page 62
Egyptian women activists: the quest for authenticity......Page 65
2 Contextualizing the Egyptian women’s movement......Page 69
Women and state policies......Page 70
The past in the present: constructions of the history of the Egyptian women’s movement......Page 73
Beginnings......Page 74
A new generation......Page 81
The Nasser period......Page 84
Sadat and infitah......Page 89
Post-infitah women’s activism and the current state under President Mubarak......Page 92
Conclusion......Page 100
3 Self and generation: formative experiences of Egyptian women activists......Page 104
The web of meaning......Page 106
Social welfare and public-spirited elites......Page 109
Encounters with the revolution and the Nasser regime......Page 116
The student movement and women’s increasing dissidence......Page 123
Personal traumas and international agendas......Page 128
Personal circumstances: opportunities and dilemmas......Page 133
Contemporary activism: layers of differences......Page 142
4 Secularism: challenging neo-orientalism and ‘his-stories’......Page 146
Introduction......Page 147
The ‘Muslim spirit’ or ‘spirits of orientalism’?......Page 149
Egyptian secularism: official his-stories......Page 153
Problems of categorization......Page 158
The origin of values: doctrines or experiences?......Page 160
The secularist continuum......Page 165
5 From words to deeds: priorities and projects of contemporary activists......Page 167
Political analyses: modernist and dependency discourses......Page 168
Is the personal really political?......Page 170
Poverty-alleviation projects: charity or development?......Page 178
Legal awareness and legal rights campaigns......Page 182
FGM Task Force: the struggle on many fronts......Page 185
Violence against women: fabricating dissent?......Page 187
Consciousness-raising or talking shows?......Page 189
Building cadres and the struggle against imperialism......Page 191
Gender training......Page 193
Appropriating the world of letters......Page 194
Women’s media watch: liberation of mind or increased censorship?......Page 196
How to measure impact......Page 200
6 A mirror of political culture in Egypt: divisions and debates among women activists......Page 203
Issues and debates among the ‘old new women’......Page 204
Regrouping and new priorities......Page 211
Generations and political culture: what kind of organization?......Page 214
Maan: together yet apart......Page 217
Foreign funding: Egypt’s post-colonial dilemma......Page 218
International conferences: transnationalism or western hegemony?......Page 223
Universality of women’s rights or cultural specificity: a false dichotomy?......Page 226
Conclusion: ‘standing on shifting ground’......Page 234
Women’s activism and the state......Page 235
International agendas......Page 237
The issue of heterogeneity......Page 239
Legitimizing strategies......Page 240
The reification of culture and colonial difference......Page 241
Modernity: the path to emancipation?......Page 245
Politics without essentialism?......Page 248
Bibliography......Page 251
Index......Page 271
