States and women's rights : the making of postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco / Mounira M. Charrad.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Charrad, M. (Mounira)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women's rights--Africa, North--History.

Women's rights.

Muslim women--Government policy--Africa, North--History.

Muslim women.

Domestic relations (Islamic law)--Africa, North--History.

Domestic relations (Islamic law).

Tribes--Africa, North--History.

Tribes.

History.

Muslim women--Government policy.

Africa, North--Politics and government.

Africa, North.

North Africa.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xviii, 341 pages : maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2001]

Summary:

At a time when the situation of women in the Islamic world is of global interest, here is a study that unlocks the mystery of why women's fates vary so greatly from one country to another. Mounira M. Charrad analyzes the distinctive nature of Islamic legal codes by placing them in the larger context of state power in various societies. In a skillful synthesis, she shows how the logic of Islamic legal codes and kin-based political power affect the position of women. These provide the key to Charrad's empirical puzzle: why, after colonial rule, women in Tunisia gained broad legal rights (even in the absence of a feminist protest movement) while, despite similarities in culture and religion, women remained subordinated in post-independence Morocco and Algeria.

Contents:

Part 1. Similarities: Common Heritage of the Maghrib 15

1. State Formation in Kin-Based Societies 17

States, Nations, and Local Solidarities 18

Central/Local Tension in the History of the Maghrib 21

The "Republics of Cousins" in Politics 23

2. Islam and Family Law: An Unorthodox View 28

The Law in Islam 29

Islamic Family Law 31

Customary Law 45

3. Women Ally with the Devil: Gender, Unity, and Division 51

Men as Unity 53

Women as Division 55

Marriage Alliances: Ideology and Reality 57

Veils and Walls 61

4. Men Work with Angels: Power of the Tribe 68

Ties That Bind: Tribal Solidarity 70

Tribes, Islamic Unity, and Markets 77

Tribes and Central Authority 80

Part 2. Historical Differences 85

5. The Precolonial Polity: National Variations 87

Tunisia: Early Development of Centralized Institutions 89

Algeria: Tribal Isolation and Weak State 98

Morocco: Land of Government Versus Land of Dissidence 103

Family Law as Mirror of the Polity 109

6. Colonial Rule: French Strategies 114

Form of Colonial Domination 115

Colonial Manipulation of Family Law 131

Part 3. Three Paths to Nation-State and Family Law 145

7. Palace, Tribe, and Preservation of Islamic Law: Morocco 147

Coalition between Palace and Tribe (1940s-50s) 148

Islamic Family Law Preserved: Choice of the Monarchy (1950s) 158

8. Elite Divisions and the Law in Gridlock: Algeria 169

Partial Reliance on Kin-Based Groups (1950s-60s) 170

Family Law Held Hostage to Political Divisions (1950s-80s) 183

9. State Autonomy from Tribe and Family Law Reform: Tunisia 201

State Autonomy from Tribes (1930s-50s) 202

The Transformation of Family Law (1930s-50s) 215

Conclusion. State-Building, Family Law, and Women's Rights 233

History, Strategy, and Policy 234

Some Theoretical Implications 238.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-317) and indexes.

ISBN:

0520073231

0520225767

OCLC:

45243236