Patriarchy and Household Configurations in 28 Countries

Abstract

In this chapter, the framework is applied to the value system of patriarchy. Patriarchy is a prominent concept in the literature on women’s economic position in Muslim societies. Caldwell talks about the ‘patriarchal belt’ across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (1978, 1982), Moghadam analyses the ‘patriarchal gender contract’ for the MENA (1998), and Kandiyoti (1988) applies the terms ‘classic patriarchy’ in South and East Asia and the Middle East. These general concepts are however hardly used to explain differences within countries. That is where this chapter comes in.