Study Kit: Past Exam Questions
Assess the impact that ONE change has had on ONE tradition in a country you have studied. (6 mark question)
Amira & Ruramai
Keywords/question focus.
ONE change, ONE tradition, Egypt
*One change- modernisation / one tradition- marriage
Ways to answer the question.
One change that I have chosen is ‘modernisation”, it has had a large impact on ‘marriage’ in Egypt.
‘Modernisation’ is one of the changes that have had an impact on ‘marriage’ in Egypt.
One tradition that has been impacted by the following change ‘modernisation’ is ‘marriage”.
Readings /sources
Reading/sources: Gender roles and status worksheet.
Marking rationale:
+ 1 marks: stating the change and tradition
+2 marks: analysing the change and tradition
+3 marks: Assessing the impacts that change has had on marriage in the country studied. (In depth) with historical examples, facts, statistics.
Model response
‘Modernisation’ is one of the changes that have had an impact on ‘marriage’ in Egypt. Modernisation is making modern in appearance or behaviour. In the Egyptian modernised areas (urban areas), women do not have the same legal rights as men in the domain of personal status e.g., marriage. On the other hand, a woman can make critical decisions such as the choice of marriage partner. The pattern here is one of negotiation among the members of her family about whom she’ll marry. She is the participant, and must in some sense agree, but many others are included such as matchmakers. Also urban weddings in Egypt are influenced by western traditions such as the cutting of the cake and tossing of the bouquet. One trend is for marriage partners to be increasingly more like one another in age and level of education. Also the old historical/hierarchal marriage is giving way to a companionate marriage, especially in the urban middle classes. However, marriage to cousins remains frequent, accounting for 39 per cent of marriages in a 1995 sample. Since premarital sex is rare, the pressure to marry is high, and almost everyone marries. But in rural areas of Egypt it is not so modernised, for example authority is patriarchal, and also genealogy is important, people learn to recite a long list of paternal ancestors.
Examine continuity and change in the country you have studied. Assess its impact on gender roles and status of men and women.
Amanda’s group
Recommended sources:
Gender roles and status scaffold
Marking Rationale:
1 + Able to justify arguments whilst referring back to question
2 + Historical Context
3 + Ability to correlate continuity and change with examples of historical context
3 + Refer to gender roles and status of women and men effectively with reference to the impact from historical events
Pointers for each paragraph:
Paragraph 1: For your introduction, make sure you mention key words that are in the question. Use the key words and rephrase what the question has asked, expanding a little bit on what you will mention in your essay and your argument (What are you arguing?)
Paragraph 2: Discuss the impacts of continuity and change in gender roles and status in reference to the overthrow of colonialism and the monarchy. Refer to how this was achievable during the 1920s-1950s.
Paragraph 3: Explain the change to Nasserism and its effects on gender roles and status of men and women in the country. Refer to at least 1 significant event.
Paragraph 4: Talk about the change from Nasserism to the Sadat era as well as the continuation of the neo-liberal policies from Sadat to Mubarak. Refer to at least 1 significant event.
Paragraph 5: Explain how the revolution has influenced change in gender roles and status. Refer to at least 1 significant event.
Paragraph 6: For your conclusion, wrap up all the information that you have referred to in your essay and answer the question. Remember to refer back to the question.
Model:
Assess the impacts of continuity and change in a country you have studied, referring to gender roles and status of men and women.
A feature that has been impacted by continuity and change in Egypt is gender roles and status of men and women. This feature has contributed to change overtime and will be justified through the use of past events and its impact on change.
Egypt was initially colonised by Britain in 1882, it was however cut short after Egypt gained independence from Britain in 1922 by the Egyptian monarchy, which was led by King Farouk. In 1952 King Farouk was overthrown due to a revolution and the transition of from Colonialism and Monarchy to National Liberalism and Republicanism began. This relates to gender roles and status because the National Liberation united all of Egyptian society, including men, women, Muslims, Coptics, rural, urban, rich, poor, young and old, under one flag against the British influence. This insignificance of status and gender roles at that point in time demonstrates the fact that unity could only be achieved if everyone worked together to achieve a goal, this unity of power was the first appearance of change.
In 1954 Nasser became Egypt's first Prime Minister and effectively ruled Egypt. He believed that all Arabs should unite as one nation and create a Pan-Arab cooperation and this philosophy is now known as “Nasserism”. Under Nasser’s power, women were more influenced to participate actively in public life and broaden their presence in macro worlds. During 1965, there was an influx of women cooperation in politics; this even exceeded the amount of women who contribute to politics in Western countries. This change in women participation demonstrates the impact of which gender roles shaped Egypt during the 1960s.
After Nasser’s death in 1970, Vice President Anwar Al-Sadat assumed power and reversed Nasser’s socialist policies and transformed Egypt into a more capitalist nation. The “infitah” (open door) and neo-liberal policies were introduced which was encouraging foreign investment and pushing down wages which meant that the gap between the rich and the poor grew bigger. This caused some repercussions for low classed women working in the informal sector and the domestic sphere because the multinational corporations ordered a union free industry, workers could not defend their rights, and women were very limited to freedom of speech within the workplace. During Sadat’s regime, one saw the abolishment of the bread subsidies. Poor women and men were especially disadvantaged as they no longer had any source of financial supplement from the government. The ban of the bread subsidies indicates the lack of power and speech Egyptian civilians had over the government; this further degraded the status of the Egyptian population during the ruling of Sadat. All this created tension between different gender roles, status and even class which lead to the “bread riots” and finally the assassination of Anwar Al-Sadat in 1981. Again, the Vice-President took over and this time power was given to Hosni Mubarak as President of Egypt. This lead to the continuation of neo-liberal values where the priority of concern remained in the economy and wealth of the country. The rise in production distanced the class inequality furthermore; this led to the female informal sector textile workers uprising.
In 2006, 3000 female workers stopped production and protested for bonuses and the corruption within the workplace. It had been one of the first large-scale protests that involved women from the informal sector, their actions proved their collective power despite the government’s lack of attention for the sector. It was during Sadat’s reign that gender inequality was seen more evident through the mistreatment of particular workers, this physical change in the workforce enabled women to force a threat upon the government. It was since the female uprising that females were viewed in different way considering their capabilities were equal to that of a man. Citizens of Egypt started to want change again and the continuation of the neo-liberal policies and gender roles and status were being rejected.
In 2011-2012 a revolution took place in the culture of fear which the government had planted in the people of Egypt through emergency laws had been broken. Riots and protests happened everywhere, but mainly only on Tahrir Square by a diverse range of people including; men, women, rich, poor, young, old, urban, rural, Muslims and Coptics. This attracted media’s attention especially that there were many Arab women (bloggers, activists and Martyrs) who have participated and it was particularly interesting to the media the amount of young women (often wearing the vale) who played a leading role in demonstrations. Mohammed Ramadan (29 year old, filmmaker) states, “In my whole life I’d never seen protests like that.. Girls! Some wore hijabs, some didn’t… Christians, Muslims- I’d never seen that”.
The continuity and change of contemporary Egypt have impacted the Gender roles and the statuses of men and women as it has changed the whole way of Egyptian life. Now the people are stronger and ready to attack anyone who stands in their way just like they did with King Farouk, Sadat and Mubarak.
Evaluate how continuities and changes in power and authority have influenced gender roles and the status of women and men.
Gorana, Hala & Veronica
KEY WORDS
Continuities and changes, power and authority, gender roles
BREAK UP THE QUESTION
Intro:
Reshape the question
Introduce your argument
Body:
Evolve from British colonisation to the rule of Nasser and the impact of this on women.
Nasser’s social democratic policies: impact of this on gender roles and the status of men and women.
Shift to Sadat’s neoliberal policies: favouring economy over social welfare and the impact of this on gender roles and the status of men and women.
Mubarak’s continuity of power and authority and expansion of the emergency laws: impact of this on gender roles and the status of men and women.
Revolution and women’s role in contributing to the change.
Conclusion:
Restate argument
Sum up body
SUGGESTED READINGS – TIME article
Filmmaker Mohammed Ramadan
“I had never seen protests like that. Girls! Some wore hijabs, some didn’t, Christians, Muslims – I’d never seen that.”
Taxi driver referring to extent of Mubarak’s oppression emergency laws
“If anyone speaks about this they will disappear into thin air.”
Unemployment for women: 5.8% in 1960’s to 40.7% in 1987.
Gender roles and status sheets.
MARKING RATIONALE: 8 MARKS
1 mark for a clear and constant structure
2 marks for constant referral to question
1 mark for referral to Nasser’s policies
1 mark for referral to Sadat’s policies
1 mark for referral to Mubarak’s policies
1 mark for referral to revolution
1 mark for providing examples/statistics/quotes
Example response
Continuities and change in power and authority in Egypt have influenced gender roles and the status of women and men. In the following argument, I will present/examine the effect political policies of Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak and how they have impacted the roles of women in society.
The revolution in 1952 saw the country of Egypt transform from monarchism to republicanism and all Egyptians were filled with a sense of unity and empowerment. Women, who were rarely seen in the public sector, came out of the domestic sphere to join in the revolution, benefitting them with empowerment. President Nasser was elected in the same year. His ties with the Soviet Union influenced his socialist policies, which included Pan-Arab nationalism and bread subsidies. This resulted in a lessened gap between social classes. During the 60’s, there were more women in public office than in the West. Nasser’s power and authority allowed for women to have more equal roles and status to men.
When Sadat took Nasser’s place in 1970, he introduced the ‘Infitah’ policy, in which he opened the market. He favoured the increasing economy over social welfare. The consequences of the newly freed market included an increasing gap between the rich and poor, exploitation of workers and further oppression of workers. Seats were reserved in the Parliament for women, however this was ruled out as unconstitutional. Sadat’s neo-liberal policies and his power and authority led to an increasing inequality between men and women, oppressing women further and further.
Mubarak was elected in 1981. He continued Sadat’s neo-liberal project and further increased the GDP. This meant even further exploitation of workers in the informal sector, most of which were females. The bread subsidies had been banned, heavily affecting women and mothers as they were the carers for their families. This put incredible stress on them, as bread is a vital aspect of the Egyptian culture. Mubarak expanded the Emergency Laws that were put into place by Nasser during the war with Israel. This controlled the public with fear out of reprisal by the army. As it was mainly men who spoke of politics in public, they were commonly tortured and sometimes killed. This affected women emotionally and financially as men were commonly the main bread0winners. In 2006, the textile sector (that consisted mostly of females) had an uprising for the unfair working conditions. Mubarak’s abuse of power and authority oppressed women incredibly and eventually led them to revolt with the rest of Egypt in 2011. Mubarak fled the country after 2 weeks of non-stop protesting in Egyptian streets and Tahrir square.
Media focused on the number of women leading protests and chants. “I had never seen protests like that. Girls! Some wore hijabs, some didn’t” said Mohammed Ramadan (Time Magazine, 2011). This change in power and authority once again brought empowerment to women as they broke free of their oppression to work collectively with the rest of Egypt to overthrow the government. However, there were incidents of women news reporters being sexually assaulted in Tahrir Square. This leaves the future rule of women in Egypt a mystery. Will they remain empowered, or will they fall under oppression again?
Name a theory of social change and assess its effectiveness in explaining continuity and change in society.
Sedika, Nikita and Sheetal
Key Words/Question Focus:
Theory of Social Change-
ooConflict
ooFunctionalist
ooEvolutionary
Effectiveness-
ooHow well does the selected theory explain continuity and change?
Continuity and Change-
ooDefine continuity and Change.
ooMajor factors of continuity that have stayed the same.
Major Factors of change.
Break the question into parts:
ooConflict theory (state it and use it to explain continuity and change)
ooContinuity (Example - Resistance to Inequality)
ooChange (Example - Gender Roles and Status)
ooArguments For and Against (assess effectiveness)
Readings/ Sources:
oo2011 Time Magazine Article
ooDateline Video – Food Riots and Technology/Facebook
ooArticle on Egypt
oo“At least 4.5 million Egyptians protested during those three weeks”.
oo“In my life I would never seen protestors like this. Girls! Some wore hijabs; some didn’t, Christians, Muslims.” (Mohammed Ramadan). (Time Magazine).
oo“The internet is…… propaganda”.
oo“People too scared to speak freely”.
Marking Rationale:
This question is 6 marks.
1 Mark ? For naming a theory
2 Marks ? For naming and elaborating a change with examples/quotes.
2 Marks ? For naming and elaborating a continuity with examples/quotes.
1 Mark ? For integrating effectiveness of the theory.