Abstract
Through an examination of a case from Port Said, Egypt, this article is concerned with betrothal as a perilous social and legal status in contemporary Egypt and with women’s strategies for counteracting the risks it poses. Analysis of the way litigants mobilize specific legal documents (a commercial receipt, a police report, and a marriage contract) suggests that although Egyptian women use legal action to protect their interests their claims may be embedded in complex strategies that marshal both legal and moral power. By redirecting law’s gaze, women reconfigure their rights and obligations and leverage outcomes that are traditionally non-enforceable. This article draws on theoretical engagements with legal documents and documentation as social practice to contribute to debates on gendered legal subjectivity, citizenship, and marriage politics in the Middle East.
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