Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East: Islamic and Secular Organizations in Egypt

(Hardback)

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In the Middle East, and in Egypt in particular, there has always been a tendency to accord complete supremacy to the authority and might of the state, and to see 'society' as a separate, powerless entity. However, after the uprising of 2011, this assumption was turned on its head. And it is the wide range of political activity beyond the remit of the official state where Wanda Krause locates a dynamic potential for political change from the bottom up. She looks in particular at the influential role of women's private voluntary organisations in Egypt in shaping concepts of civil society and democracy. Exploring both secular and 'Islamist' organisations, she offers a steadfast critique of the view that Islamic women activists are insignificant, 'backward' or 'uncivil'. Krause's examination of women activists in Egypt today is vital for those interested in Middle East and Gender Studies, as well as those researching the wider issues of civil society and democratisation.

Reviews

'In light of the recent popular uprisings and revolutions taking place across the North Africa and Middle East (MENA) region, a comprehensive and informed analysis of democratization from below is more vital now than ever. Wanda Krause's Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East: Islamic and Secular Organizations in Egypt provides just such timely and lucid analysis and will therefore be welcomed by academics, policy makers, and lay people with an interest in the region, seeking to make sense of these rapidly unfolding developments. With its fascinating ethnographic study of women activists in Egypt today, Krause's book offers a powerful riposte to Orientalist arguments regarding the absence of political society in the Middle East, and the lack of political agency of women in what are deemed to be patriarchal and oppressive societies. Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East will be of great interest to students and scholars of Middle East and Gender Studies, as well as those researching the wider issues of civil society and democratization.' Corinna Mullin, Lecturer in Middle East Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London

Author Bio

Wanda Krause is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Gulf Studies Program at Qatar University. Formerly Teaching Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS, University of London, she is the author of Women in Civil Society: The State, Islamism and Networks in the UAE (2008).