What is the link between information communication technology and women's empowerment in today's development context? How can ICT facilitate the pursuit of a better world? Exploring the rich complexity of the contexts in which they live and work, the authors of Women and ICT in Africa and the Middle East offer a multitude of perspectives and experiences, avoiding simplistic answers and solutions. Based on analyses from twenty-one research teams in fourteen countries, this much-needed, human-centred contribution to the fields of gender, development and information communication technology questions, demonstrates and suggests what it takes to wield the emancipatory potential of ICT.

Based on the outcome of an extensive research project, this book features chapters based on original primary field research undertaken by academics & activists who have investigated situations within their own communities & countries.

' In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and in light of socio-economic and geopolitical challenges facing governments old and new, women''s rights and empowerment have gained new urgency and relevance. Groups in power, or groups contesting for power, are more conservative than expected, and there are serious threats to roll back some of the gains women had achieved over the past 20–30 years on economic and social fronts. The global gender debate has neglected the economic dimension of women''s empowerment and a great deal of debate and interest among researchers is needed to push the topics further. This timely book brings together leading regional researchers to offer original research linking gender equality with economic policy, reinforcing the agenda from a broad-based perspective. Contents:Forewords (Gary Becker and Ismail Serageldin)Preface (Soukeina Bouraoui)Acknowledgments (Nadereh Chamlou)Committee Members of the Gender Economic Research and Policy Analysis InitiativeContributors'' Biographical InformationWomen, Work, and Welfare in the Middle East and North Africa: Introduction and Overview (Massoud Karshenas, Valentine M Moghadam, and Nadereh Chamlou)Socio-Demographics:Returns to Education in Palestine and Turkey: A Comparative Study (Aysit Tansel and Yousef Daoud)Gender Effects of Education on Economic Development in Turkey (Aysit Tansel and Nil Demet Güngör)Intra-Household Resource Allocation in Egypt: Effect of Power Distribution within the Household on Child Work and Schooling (Rania Roushdy and Soiliou Daw Namoro)Gender, Resources across the Life Course, and Cognitive Functioning in Egypt (Kathryn M Yount)Socio-Demographic and Economic Characteristics and Problems of Jordanian Female-Headed Households (Hussein M Abu Farash)Women''s Entrepreneurship — Obstacles, Progress, and Prospects:Women Entrepreneurs in Egypt: Obstacles, Potential, and Prospects (Alia El Mehdi)Women Entrepreneurs in Lebanon: Obstacles, Potential, and Prospects (Kamal Hamdan, Redha Hamdan, Lara Batlouni, and Nisrine Mansour)Women Entrepreneurs in Turkey: Obstacles, Potentials, and Prospects (Şemsa Özar)Self-Employed Persons and Wage-Earners in Algeria: Application of a Bivariate Probit Model (Soheil Chennouf and Taïeb Hafsi)Gender and Entrepreneurship in Iran (Roksana Bahramitash and Hadi Salehi Esfahani)Labor, Liberalization, and Gender Discrimination:The Determinants of Female Labor Force Participation in the Middle East and North Africa Region: The Role of Education and Social Norms in Amman, Cairo, and Sana''a (Nadereh Chamlou, Silvia Muzi, and Hanane Ahmed)Women and Work in Dubai City: Institutional Barriers and Potentials (Fatemeh Etemad Moghadam, Farroukh Guiahi, and Rabia Naguib)Private–Public Sector Employment Choice and Wage Differentials in Palestine: A Gender Perspective (Yousef Daoud and Ruba Shanti)Offshoring and the Availability of Female Labor in the MENA Region (Nadereh Chamlou & Désirée van Gorp)Gender and Public Policies:Did Trade Liberalization Benefit Female Workers? Evidence from Egypt on Wage and Employment Effects (Shireen AlAzzawi)Gender and Employment Impacts of Taxation Policy in the Middle East and North Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia (Ismael Fofana, Rim Chatti, Erwin Corong, Sami Bibi, and Omar Bouazouni)Family Planning and Female Empowerment in Iran (Djavad Salehi-Isfahani)The Impact of Labor Nationalization Policies on Female Participation Rates in the Arab Gulf (Emilie Rutledge and Fatima Al Shamsi) Readership: Policy makers, graduate students and researchers interested in the socio-economic issues that impact women in the Middle East and North Africa. Key Features:Incorporates a wide range of authoritative voices and counters criticism that the topic infringes on "cultural" issuesIncludes a foreword by the late Nobel Laureate Professor Gary Becker, the Chair of the Steering Committee and the Director of the renowned Library of Alexandria Dr Ismail Serageldin, and the Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Mrs Inger AndersenMore than 80 researchers were engaged in the writing of this book. They are intimately familiar with the circumstances of their societies, and what kind of reforms are neededKeywords:Middle East and North Africa;Women''s Welfare;Gender Studies'

Gender and the Information Revolution in Africa

This book examines the position of women in the contemporary Middle East and North Africa. It provides both theoretical angles and case studies from countries as diverse as Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Morocco and Israel, discussing the role of women as agents of change, with particular reference to the spheres of politics, civil society, religion, the law, society and culture.

Technology, Gender and Power in Africa

In view of the resilience of Africa’s underdevelopment, what do Africans make of their determined aspirations for development? The continent of Africa has constantly drawn global attention, most especially for both human and natural evils. Underdevelopment, it appears, is one of the most eminent threatening evils. It has plunged and promises to maintain the majority of Africa in abject poverty, insecurity, and vulnerability. What perpetuates the ghost and gory of underdevelopment in Africa, despite a proliferation of development rhetoric and initiatives? How do ordinary Africans react to repeated talk and claims of development with little evidence of transformation for the better in their material circumstances? This book interrogates the tenacity of underdevelopment amid calls for Africa to rise from its slumber and reclaim its position in global affairs as the mother continent of humankind. It contributes to the ongoing debates on why Africa remains trapped in the clutch of underdevelopment many decades after the purported end of colonialism. The book comes at a critical time in human history; a time when the talk on Africa’s [under-]development is louder due to the ravages of economic downturns and dysfunctional conflicts. It poses a challenge to development practitioners, civil society activists, statesmen, economists, political scientists and theorists to rethink and reconsider their role as technocrats, experts and ambassadors of positive change in Africa and the world beyond.