States and Women's Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco

by Mounira M. Charrad

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.

Charrad argues that many analysts miss what is going on in Islamic societies because they fail to recognize the logic of the kin-based model of social and political life, which she contrasts with the Western class-centered model. 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. Charrad's elegant theory, crisp writing, and solid scholarship make a unique contribution in developing a state-building paradigm to discuss women's rights.

This book will interest readers in the fields of sociology, politics, law, women's studies, postcolonial studies, Middle Eastern studies, Middle Eastern history, French history, and Maghrib studies.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Gender

388 pages, Paperback

First published June 4, 2001

Reviews

[Mary Soderstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is nearly 20 years old but it has much to say regarding current politics in Algeria and Tunisia. Charrad's focus is on women, their legal protections, and their problems in these countries plus Morocco: it's a book that would have been a useful companion to the events of the Arab Spring. Even though a North American might lump them together as three North African states that suffered under European colonial regimes, each has a separate, different history going back 2,000 years that echoes in their institutions today.

When I was working on my book Frenemy Nations: Love and Hate Between Neighbo(u)ring States I found Charrad's ideas extremely useful when I was working on the chapter on Algeria and Tunisia. Now that the events sparking the Arab Spring are a decade behind us, it is still worth reading.

[Hamid Akbary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great historical analysis of how state building was challenged by kinship groups in postcolonial countries such as Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia which as a result different social reforms were put in place. Charred beautifully points out to the different extents of conflicts between kinship groups (local solidarities) and state in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia to show that the reason social reforms introduced in Tunisia, unlike Algeria and Morocco, were liberal was because Tunisia was the only country among the three to be able to remove and remain unchallenged by the local solidarities during the state building right after independence. A great book for those who are interested in reading how conflicts between kinship groups and state during state-building can impact social reforms on which women's social position depends.

[Joanne Payton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.