Reform, continuities and conservatism in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

This chapter explores thematic foci in scholarship on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It deals with historical, social scientific and area studies research that examines contemporary issues of women, gender and Islam. The chapter argues that scholarly insight into one of the most pressing themes in the region for decades, gender conservativism and familism, could be greatly enhanced by expanding the regional and theoretical scope. It discusses formations of family ideology, gender and the recurring social perception of a family crisis in the MENA region. A significant amount of academic attention has been paid to the conditions and the role of marriage and divorce in Muslim societies, including changes in Islamic law. Modernity and colonial heritage form the overall background of classic and more recent work on marriage, Muslim law and family formation. The scholarship on Muslim subjectivity, identity and religious agency greatly reflects the importance of historical global inequalities.