This book examines women, money, and political participation in the Middle East and North Africa focusing on women’s capacity to engage local political systems. In particular, it considers whether and how this engagement is facilitated through specific types of financial flows from abroad. Arab countries are well-known rentier states, and so a prime destination for foreign aid, worker remittances, and oil-related investment. Alongside other factors these external monies have elicited dramatic shifts in gender-related social norms and expectations both from the state and the domestic population, affording certain women the opportunity to enter the political arena, while leaving others behind. The research presented here expands the discussion of women in rentier political economy and highlights their roles as participants and agents within regional templates for economic development.

Muslim Women and the Politics of Participation is about ways of promoting women's participation in the affairs of Muslim societies: from raising consciousness and changing codes of law to penetrating the economic markets and influencing national and international policies. Editors Mahnaz Afkhami and Erika Friedl challenge stereotypes about Muslim women and probe the difficulties and possibilities women face as they work for positive social change.

Political participation in authoritarian regimes is usually considered insignificant, or important only insofar as it promotes democracy. Turning this common wisdom on its head, Political Participation in the Middle East demonstrates the vitality, variety, and significance of political activism across the MENA region. Through an in-depth exploration of seven countries, the authors address how formal and informal political institutions create opportunities for participation in venues as varied as trade unions, civic associations, political parties, and elections. And, without losing sight of the fact that authoritarian regimes manipulate participation to reinforce their rule, they reveal ways in which citizens do benefit?by influencing decision-making, for example, or obtaining state resources. An engaging read for scholars and students, this work vividly illustrates how citizens matter in the politics of authoritarian regimes.

Scientific Study from the year 2019 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Miscellaneous, grade: 4.0, University of Reading, language: English, abstract: The hierarchical social relations inherent to any patriarchal system have resulted in women’s social identities becoming dependent on their relationship with men, as a fathers or husbands. Such relationships have encouraged the view that the oppression of women is the cornerstone of such systems and that their liberation is an essential condition for overcoming it. My question for this paper is: What is the relationship between patriarchy and women’s marginalization and absence in the political sphere? In this paper I will discuss how women are marginalized and silenced by force rather than by choice. To further elaborate on that it must be clear that women, especially in the Middle East, are constrained by different types of patriarchy. They are restrained from growing and aspiring to change power relations by the legal system, by the social conventions and the unequal power relations between male and female, and lastly by externalities that constructed the polity of the region. In order to further carry out this research paper, I will use a Marxist feminist theoretical framework to analyze the issue of women’s marginalization in the Middle East.

Over the past 10-15 years, there has been a flowering of politically-motivated women's non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Israel. This study examines three aspects relating to this new NGO sphere: the reasons for the growth of NGOs, the kind of learning that occurs in these new political spaces, and the political and social implications of women's NGOs. This study contributes meaningful data to literature on civil society and democratization, discussing in particular the relationship between political institutions and NGOs.

Freedom HouseOs innovative publication WomenOs Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amid Resistance analyzes the status of women in the region, with a special focus on the gains and setbacks for womenOs rights since the first edition was released in 2005. The study presents a comparative evaluation of conditions for women in 17 countries and one territory: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine (Palestinian Authority and Israeli-Occupied Territories), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The publication identifies the causes and consequences of gender inequality in the Middle East, and provides concrete recommendations for national and international policymakers and implementers. Freedom House is an independent nongovernmental organization that supports democratic change, monitors freedom, and advocates for democracy and human rights. The project has been embraced as a resource not only by international players like the United Nations and the World Bank, but also by regional womenOs rights organizations, individual activists, scholars, and governments worldwide. WomenOs rights in each country are assessed in five key areas: (1) Nondiscrimination and Access to Justice; (2) Autonomy, Security, and Freedom of the Person; (3) Economic Rights and Equal Opportunity; (4) Political Rights and Civic Voice; and (5) Social and Cultural Rights. The methodology is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the study results are presented through a set of numerical scores and analytical narrative reports.