Nation-Building, State and the Genderframing of Women's Rights in the United Arab Emirates (1971-2009)

en Limba Engleză Hardback – 6 sep 2012

In the United Arab Emirates, the extensive change to Emirati women's traditional rights and roles has been one of the most visible transformations taking place throughout the country's 40 years of modern history. This book offers an interpretation of why and how these modifications came about. The book discovers that there is no direct or easy link between the State's 'offer of rights' towards women and society's acceptance of them. Given these circumstances, the mechanisms that induce women to actually take advantage of what is offered have not been given sufficient attention. The concept of 'genderframing' aims precisely at defining the 'connecting mechanism' and explaining the successes and failures of these policies, both mobilization-wise and implementation-wise. The term 'genderframing' refers to a dynamic and interactive process between the State and its population, which entails the symbolic rework of meanings associated with women-related policies. It is argued that such re-interpretation has been purposefully conducted by the Emirati State in order to portray the changing roles of women as necessary and desirable, for reasons associated with nation-building purposes, religious conformity, promotion of family values, and efforts at indigenous cultural preservation. The book highlights the profound intertwining of gender, nation-building, and domestic socio-political dynamics in a country that, while seeking to establish its modernizing credentials, is still struggling for self-definition and empowerment.

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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9780863724329
ISBN-10: 0863724329
Pagini: 152
Dimensiuni: 160 x 236 x 15 mm
Greutate: 0.36 kg
Ediția:New.
Editura: Ithaca Press (GB)
Locul publicării:United Kingdom

Recenzii

The book addresses the interconnected notions of gender, nation-building, and domestic socio-political dynamics in the newly established state of the United Arab Emirates that, while aspiring to establish a modern country, is still searching for self-definition and empowerment. It presents two forms of analyses. On the one hand, it investigates the strategic plan of the UAE state in creating and re-configuring alterations to the genderframe. On the other hand, it examines the resonance or impact of such a genderframe on the society in general and Emirati women in particular. The abstract term of "genderframing" is used by the author to refer to the dynamic and interactive process between the government or state and its population or society, which aims at reshaping or reinterpreting meanings connected to women-related policies. Such reinterpretations have been made by the UAE state revealing the changing roles of women as enviable and necessary for reasons related to nation-building objectives that include the promotion of family values and the maintenance of religious and cultural orientations. According to the author, this genderframing activity leads to the construction of a genderframe, a collective framework of interpretation that provides the population with constructive orientations with which to address women-related policies. The book provides a case study of the intersection of genderframing and nation-building in Gulf countries with a special focus on the UAE as the only successful experience of political union in the Arab world, notwithstanding its traditional polity as a tribal hereditary monarchy. The author collected data based on Internet searches, personal connections, and interviews that were conducted across the seven Emirates, the majority of which came from the Emirates of Dubai and Sharjah. In addition, the author used content analysis of women-related speeches and statements made by state officials and members of the ruling families, obtained from a variety of sources including official publications, websites, and online newspapers such as the Gulf News and al-Khaleej. The author briefly reviewed previous studies, especially those of Suaad al-Oraimi and Wanda Krause that defined the UAE state's position towards women as part of the government's project of development accentuating the nation's unity and identity building. In her attempt to further develop these insights, the author focused on the theme of how Emirati women have been a central part of the process of nation-building in their country. She tackled the historical economic, social and political conditions of the region showing how it has transformed from tribally organized trucial states - dominated by British colonialism that made very little effort to improve the living conditions of the population of that region - into a confederation of seven Emirates. The book divided the temporal development of the state's involvement in women empowerment into three stages, discussed in three independent chapters. First, during the period from 1971 to the early 1980s, tasks of nation-building were undertaken by the newly established state of the Emirates locating women as crucial players in the realization of those tasks. During this period, the state was involved in the creation of a modern nation and was particularly eager to eliminate the image of the backwardness of the society and its women. In a word, Emirati women were in the process of modernization and having their rights expanded. Second, was the period from the late 1970s until 2009 during which the state focused on the religious and indigenous roots of national culture as well as on the policy of emiratization. The state was dealing with waves of traditionalism that swept the country, and reacted by promoting culturally authentic values and lifestyles. In this changing period of time, women were re-traditionalized, and their behavior and range of rights were seen as significant indicators of cultural authenticity. Third, was the period from the late 1990s until 2009 in which the state dealt with issues of nationalizing the labor force and opening up political participation aimed at renewing and empowering the Emirati nation. During this period women were viewed as central to the achievement of the national goals. After addressing the effects of 40 years of genderframing as regards the education, employment and political participation of Emirati women, the author provides judgmental statements saying that young women (especially those born in the 1980s and 1990s), unlike their predecessors, will not benefit from ample employment opportunities in the public sectors, and less so in gender-segregated environments. She also argues that the young generation cannot compete with the highly killed expats. The author depicts the young generation as showing little understanding of what it is to struggle for something as well as accentuates the imbalance and dilemma between tradition and modernity. Further, the next female generation, according to the author's view, "may be losing out employment-wise by spending all their formative years within a segregated educational system" (p. 96). Such a statement reflects a hidden Western model against which the Emirati youth is judged. Further, this statement is countered by the fact that the majority of students enrolled in universities in the UAE are women. Though the work force continues to be dominated by expatriates, Emirati nationals, including women, hold high-ranking positions, such as the cultural attache in Washington DC, university professorship, doctors, etc. Furthermore, the UAE is unique in that employability or social activeness can be measured not necessarily by employability for salary, but on social-based activities. Women may well be using their education to participate in charitable organizations that are encouraged by the UAE's culture of philanthropy. Overall, the book is dry and abstract. It focuses on women's issues as judged and evaluated by Western orientation. Furthermore, it lacks clarity and precision in using certain terms especially "genderframe," and its related forms (genderframing/s," "diagnostic genderframing", "prognostic genderframing" and "motivational genderframing"). For example, in page 103, the author writes "Although the genderframing of education seems to have been the most successful of all, women's employment and political participation are still genderframings in progress." If by this statement the author means that progress is being made for Emirati women's employment in professional arenas, I would agree. However, the author claims that one of the principles behind the UAE state's policy toward women concerns the recognition given by the international community to the conditions of women and women's issues within a given country as a reflection of the social advancement and civilization of that country. Thus, as the UAE has sought to attain respected statehood, the expansion of women's rights has been seen as a means to secure that recognition. Such a statement is objectionable as it depicts the UAE's plan as an instrumental tool for achieving international recognition, not as a genuine effort to empower Emirati women, socially, economically or politically. In addition, the book argues that there is no direct relationship between the state's policy that aims at empowering women and society's acceptance of them. In other words, Emirati society in general is still not ready to conceptualize women's rights and entitlements. In this regard, the book suffers from sweeping generalizations. For example, the author claims that in "many countries of the Middle East and North Africa, as many excellent collections have demonstrated the education, employment and political participation of women have never really been that easily accepted by their own societies" (p. 5). But, the author does not mention a specific country or society to justify her statement. To support her claim, the author cites Abu-Lughod's book, Remaking Women: Feminist and Modernity in the Middle East (1998). However, within the same book Abu-Lughod, in her discussion of women in contemporary Egyptian society, states, "Urban women today, of a variety of classes, veiled and unveiled, are generally more radical than Qasim Amin was on issues of education, work, and participation in some aspects of the public sphere, such as politics" (Abu-Lughod, 1998, p. 262). This societal acceptance of new roles of women was supported by the state where Nasser's "policies of mass education and guaranteed employment for graduates, regardless of sex, were based on a conception of women as worker and citizen whose participation was essential for national development" (Abu-Lughod, 1998, p. 262). The book is limited by its restricted view and stereotyped expectations of Emirati culture. Though it calls for empowerment for women, it fails to acknowledge the progress made to date in the country's half decade of statehood. With its theoretical shortcomings discussed above, it is difficult to recommend this book to students in the field of Arab Gulf studies in general, and Emirati culture, in particular. Review by el-Sayed el-Aswad, PhD United Arab Emirates University Al Ain, UAE

Notă biografică

Vania Carvalho Pinto has studied in Coimbra (Portugal), Leiden (Netherlands), Exeter (UK) and Hildesheim (Germany). She spent nearly a year and half in the UAE as Visiting Researcher both at the Sharjah Supreme Council for Family Affairs and at the University of Sharjah, researching for this book.

Descriere

The extensive changes to Emirati women's traditional rights and roles have been one of the most visible transformations taking place in the United Arab Emirates throughout its forty years of modern history. This book offers an interpretation of why and how these modifications came about.

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