Mulki Al-Sharmani (ed.): Feminist activism, women’s rights and legal reform

Abstract

As a set of historically, socially and institutionally specific statements, terms, categories and beliefs, discourse is the site where meanings are contested and power relations determined. It is the ability to see how knowledge, meaning and action are controlled through official institutions and in social relations that can illuminate the exercise of power in society (Marchand and Parpart 1995, 3). Because concepts such as feminist activism, legal reform and women’s empowerment are complex and multifaceted, they need to be understood and seen as part of the complex social relations in which they exist together with the power relations and interests embodied within those relations. The way that power produces knowledge and how different interpretations occupy a space at any one time are both critical to understanding the formation of legal discourse; providing the basis for an endless opposition between legitimacy and illegitimacy, struggle and submission. With this in mind, ‘Feminist Activism, Women’s Rights and Legal Reform’ is a timely collection, which brings together case studies of feminist struggles around the recognition, definition and implementation of reforms under the broad remit of ‘family law’. Each case study reflects upon the feminist struggle for legal reform at critical points in time within particular but culturally diverse socio-political contexts, including Palestine, Egypt, Yemen, Bangladesh, Iran, Morocco, Brazil and Ghana. The examples not only examine the content of the changes being advocated but also critique and analyse the choices and strategies employed by feminist activists, in addition to the subsequent gains and shortfalls achieved as a result. In this sense, the book not only provides insight into the commonly contested issues relating to family law around the world, such as age of marriage, polygamy, duty to