Women's Political Rights: Islam, Status and Networks in Kuwait

Abstract

During the last decade, there have been signs of increased democratization in the Middle East. Yet women's political rights remain limited. In this article we focus on Kuwait, a country representative of how citizenship rights have been gendered in the Middle East. Some Kuwaiti women's groups support expanding women's political rights. This article seeks to determine if they have potential allies in the general population. Using survey data from 1500 Kuwaiti citizens in 1994, we identify potential advocates for extending women's rights by examining social status, social networks, religious identity and Gulf War experiences. We found that organized women's groups have potential allies in Sunni young people and men who belong to voluntary organizations, and Shia young men, older women and those who backed Islamic movements abroad. These groups form a basis for developing a broad base of popular support for expanding the citizenship rights of women.