Women's Movements in the Middle East: Different Perspectives, Different Strategies

Focusing on the changing political agency of women in the Middle East, this article examines women's discursive and strategic tools in the Middle East as they work to realize their ideals of equality and freedom. The Middle East has frequently been identified with reference to its culturel and religous identity. Such an identification becomes clearly visible in the way women and their movements are analyzed in the literature. It is assumed that Middle Eastern women are more marginalized than their Western counterparts as a result of Islam and Middle Eastern culture. The article explains that it would be erroneous to maintain this assuption in interpreting women's movements in the region. Much like in other places women's movements in the Middle East are shaped by the historical trajactories of power relations and the way they are effected by nation states. Middle Eastern women and their political organizations cannot be regarded as mere victims. They are and have been active political agents who contribute to the making and dismantling of structures that limit them.