Gender and the Arab Spring: Women Shaping Change

Abstract

Women tend to make up the largest portion of the informal labor force and women in the Arab region are no different (Carr & Chen, 2004). Indeed, women remain concentrated in hidden areas of the informal economy (e.g., domestic laborers, assistants in small family enterprises). Under such circumstances they endure hazardous employment status, low, irregular or no remuneration, little or no access to social security or protection, and limited ability to organize to ensure the enforcement of international labor standards and human rights (Chant & Pedwell 2008). Therefore it is no small achievement to see that women have been at the forefront of the Arab Spring- that is, the revolutions across the region. The potential contributions of women to the legal market economy as well as to the rebuilding of the region are enormous. Journalists and political analysts alike suggest that the Arab Spring represents a remarkable opportunity for women and other marginalized populations to take their rightful place partnering in the re- building and development of their societies (de Soto, 2011; Witts, 2010). Women can leverage the winds-of-change to challenge the status-quo and join the efforts of many female scholars, entrepreneurs, and business leaders who have been attempting to re-shape harsh patriarchal norms of gender relations institutionalized in the region for generations. It is within this context of change that we ground our proposed symposium to examine instances of change, struggles toward change and more indigenous recommendations needed for positive change in gender relations in the Arab MENA.Crafting Positive Identities: Changing the Stereotypical ‘Emirati Woman’ Role IdentityPresenter: Katty Marmenout; EM LyonWomen’s Progress to Business Leadership in the UAE: A Female Community Shapes ChangePresenter: Linzi J. Kemp; American U. of SharjahFemale Leaders, Mindsets and Change in the Arab Middle EastPresenter: Yusuf M. Sidani; American U. of BeirutPresenter: Alison M. Konrad; U. of Western OntarioPresenter: Charlotte M. Karam; American U. of BeirutArab School-to-Work: Never Ending TransitionPresenter: Ikhlas Ali Abdalla; Gulf U. of Science and TechnologyWomen, Islamic Feminism, Civil Society and Social Reform in the MiddlePresenter: Beverly Metcalfe; U. of Manchester