Politics and Gender a Transnational Research and Teaching Network
Politics and Gender — A Transnational Research and Teaching Network
Documentation of the Initial Partner Workshop
Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, 26-30 May, 2006
The initial partner workshop, the official launch of the project, was the first meeting of all research centers, the university and NGO partners participating in the network on politics and gender. The aims of the project include research, qualification of young scholars, curriculum development, and outreach activities with civil society actors and the academic public. The network comprises a multi-layered cooperation of five university institutions with diverse policies of higher education, gender mainstreaming and administrative guidelines. The partner workshop and the respective partner meetings at the CvO University of Oldenburg in spring and summer 2006 served firstly, to evaluate the ongoing research and curriculum development already accomplished by the partners and the student fellows. Secondly, and according to the dialogical dimension of the network, the partner workshop constituted a platform of discussion to define research questions as well as the projects and activities which will be carried through in the following years.
Friday, May 26, First Session: Keynote Address
The Feminization of Public Space: Women’s Activism, the Family Law, and Social Change in Morocco
Fatima Sadiqi and Moha Ennaji, University of Fes
In their lecture, Fatima Sadiqi and Moha Ennaji addressed the recent reform of citizenship rights and family law in Morocco, which resulted into one of the most progressive laws on women’s legal status in the MENA region. In spite of the protests by political Islam activists that this law would contradict the shari'a, it was backed by the Moroccan king as in accordance with religious principles and it then passed the parliament. According to both researchers, the king’s support was a prerequisite not only for the enactment of the law, but will also be crucial for the transformation in jurisdiction and law enforcement which have yet to take place. The progressive stand of the head of state was not the exclusive cause for reform, though.
The debate about the new law partially reflects that the feminist movement has considerably shaped the public space in Morocco in the last decades and especially since 1996. The movement contributed a producer of ideas and through its activism. It now constitutes a political actor itself – in spite of the meager representation of women in parliament.
The political arena in Morocco is divided into different political spaces. In the public space – the civil society –, the feminist movement contradicts the political Islam activists, and negotiates with formal institutions. The public space discourses are held in a continuum of egalitarianism, liberal Islam and political Islam. The religious legitimacy of the monarchy, however, eases the tension between state and political Islam and creates a culture of Islam, which mediates the contradicting perceptions of tradition and modernity and their impact on gender relations.
The lecture underlined the importance of citizenship as a key issue for the research network in questioning gendered citizenship rights and calling for strategies to establish egalitarian rights.The Moroccan discourse on the reform also pointed to the second focus of research the relationship of gender and violence on the structural and normative level.
In the following discussion, the question emerged if the Moroccan example is unique in the sense that the culture of Islam embedded in everyday life (as well as in the monarchy) contrasts the project of political Islam. The fact that the tension between tradition and modernity is softened in contemporary Moroccan political discourse, enlarges the public space for the feminist movement. It eases its quest to prove its authenticity as opposed to be an expression of western influence.
The researches pointed out that the comparative flourishing of the feminist movement in Morocco is based on the successful claim for public space. The rebellion against allocation and limitation of space seems to be more productive than combating images such as feminism being identified with ideas of western consumerism.
Friday, May 26, Second Session: Fellows’ Day
A key element of the network is the qualification of young scholars. In the three sessions, two on Friday, one on Saturday, fellows from the partner universities presented their graduate and post-graduate research projects and received feedback from all participants.
Women and Politics 1: Civil Society and Social Movements
Women and Politics
Hanane Darghour, University of Fes
Civil Society, Democracy and the Women’s Movement in Morocco
Mohammed Yachoulti, University of Fes
The Role of Civil Society Organizations and Women’s Political Participation
Nadia Al-Asri, University of Sana'a
The Emergence of Islamic Feminism
Shafika Anwer Abdul Aziz Fakir, University of Aden
Most presenters focused on the key role of NGOs as civil society actors pressing for social change. In the discussions, the main issues raised were on definitions of civil society in the MENA region and on theoretical assessments. Two of the standard paradigms were addressed: the question of western influences on NGOs and the debate on authenticity, as well as the idea that in the MENA civil society is either ‘not yet developed’ or ‘failing’. To overcome these binary oppositions, it was suggested that a fresh view might be possible by using the idea of the ‘new social movements’ as discussed in the European context, i.e. bringing in non-organized or loosely-organized actors. This wider scope, however, has rarely been used to understand civil societies in the region.
Women and Politics 2: Body Practices and Representations
First Explorative Studies on Female Body Practices and Sports in Yemen
Rea Kodalle, CvO University of Oldenburg
Politics of the Body — The Body as Political Issue
Carlotta Schulte Ostermann, CvO University of Oldenburg
Self-representations of Women in Palestine and Germany
Ulrike Lingen-Ali, CvO University of Oldenburg
Although the study of body politics is a comparatively new field of research in the social sciences, there exists a vast literature on the body and sexuality of women in the MENA region, as practices such as veiling or sex segregation are key topics in the Orientalist discourse. The discussion focused on methodological questions, i. e. how to overcome forms of ‘Othering’ while addressing and discussing difference.
Saturday, May 27, First Session: Fellows’ Day contd.
Women and Politics 3: Cultural and Economic Dimensions
Media, Gender and Politics in Two Francophone Magazines
Kamal Elaissaoui, University of Fes
Gender Differences on Learning Strategies, Motivation and Achievement
Sabria Al-Thawr, University of Sana'a
The Impact of Economic Reform on Gender in Yemen
Suhair Atef, University of Sana'a
The Phenomenon of Female Labour Migrants in Yemen (paper distributed)
Sabine Falke, CvO University of Oldenburg
Female Heads of Households: The Impact of Male Migration on Gender Roles in Rural Morocco
Eva Fuchs, University of Hamburg
The papers tackled a broad range of aspects and varied to a great extent in the research frameworks, theoretical concepts and methodological approaches as they cover the field of media analysis, linguistics, economy and anthropology. Nevertheless, they offered the option to explore common research interests among the partners involved such as research in language use (Fes, Osnabrueck and Sana'a), discourse analysis (Fes and Oldenburg), and economic and social dimensions of migration (Aden, Fes, Oldenburg and Sana'a).
The general issues raised in the discussions may be summarized into the following: firstly, the methodological problems put forward by the fellows were the lack of training in social science research methodology. This includes training for empirical research, but also basic techniques of collecting and choosing literature and other sources as well as the critical reading and the interpretation of texts. The lack of literature, but also censorship are part of the problem. Secondly, the definitions und the understanding of gender vary to a great extent and shape the use of this analytical tool.
Consequently, for the project network it is necessary to:
start a debate on the conceptual framework of gender;
- develop a basic teaching unit on gender as part of the curriculum development activities;
- and improve the methodological training in existing curriculums.
Finding 1: Fellows’ Network
One element of the fellow network is the presentation of the research on the internet homepage of the project, which allows the contact among the fellows and the partners, and is a platform for presenting research abstracts, which all fellows are asked to contribute. The research reports (10-15 pages), which the fellows have to deliver after their individual stipends, covers the research question, the research process and include the preliminary findings. They will be distributed among the partners.
The evaluation of for research and support by the network and the coordinators should also be included and will help to improve the research stays of the fellows.
Saturday, May 27, Second Session: Research Day
Women in the Public Space: Inroads and Representations
Amatalrauf Alsharki, CDPF Sana'a
Islam and Migration: Muslim Girls and the Veiling Issue in Germany (presented on Monday)
Yasemin Karakasoglu, University of Bremen
Arabic and French Writing Practices in Southern France
Constanze Weth, University of Osnabrueck
The three papers covered current research topics of the cooperation partners. Amatalrauf Alsharki presented the work of the Cultural Development Program Foundation, which has centered on the exhibitions and workshops on ‘State Dress and Identity’ held in several Yemeni cities. The project aims at giving insights into the national history of Yemen and protecting its unity through the contextualizing of various emblems, representations and codes in different historical settings. The clothes of female politicians, and women of the royal or presidential families, which are part of the exhibition, inscribe women into the national history of Yemen, and highlight how the public appearances of women shaped the identity politics of the nation state.
Yasemin Karakasoglu’s paper addressed the debate on the issue of veiling in Germany. For many Muslim migrants predominantly of Turkish origin, Islam proves to be an relevant aspect for identity formation, although the younger generation is usually less religious than the older ones. The veil is thus an important identity marker for some young Muslims girls, while in media reports and political discussions on integration and it servers as marker for backwardness, unequal gender relations and ‘Otherness’. The issue of veiling in schools, both for pupils and female teachers, is frequently in the center of the debate on citizenship rights for the Muslim migrant community.
At the visit to the Department for Intercultural Education at the University of Bremen, which was part of the following partner meeting, Karakasoglu stressed the importance of a recent quantitative and qualitative research undertaken by the department. It findings put many of the images held on migrants, especially on the suffering of young Muslim girls through the patriarchal Turkish communities, to a test, and provides a base for political decision-making.
Finding 2: Gender, Identity and Citizenship
All members of the research network subscribe to the theoretical framework that citizenship is always gendered. There exists a broad variety of approaches, however, how this framework is to be applied in the research on the legitimization of gendered citizenship rights in different states, and the respective strategies for egalitarian rights. There exists a need for a comparative perspective for analyzing how structural and legal differences are embedded in the political, cultural and religious discourses of the distinct states, and how they shape policies of the states and the strategies of civil society actors.
The issue of identity politics for the emergence of the nation state and citizenship has rarely been addressed in research on Yemen, especially in the Northern-Yemeni context. Amatalrauf Alsharki (CDFP Sana'a) and Bilqis Abu Osboa (Sana'a) agreed on joint research on citizenship exploring how the images of women as wives and mothers, or women confined to the private, non-political sphere influences the image of women as citizens.
Identity formation and images of identity are also a key issue of the debate on migration and integration in the European, especially the German context and should be integrated in the research, hereby the cooperation with the University of Bremen is an important asset
Constanze Weth’s lecture addressed the writing practices of children with a Moroccan migrant background in southern France based on extensive ethnographic survey and an orthographic study in schools and in the families. Children have to acquire French as national language as a prerequisite of educational success, while the spoken Moroccan Arabic preserver the linguistic family tradition. The reading and writing practices in Arabic taught at schools, however, differs to the spoken Arabic, and thus, literate practices have different forms and functions. While Moroccan Arabic usually is the first spoken language, French is the dominant language in terms of their literate abilities.
Finding 3: Gender, Language, and Migration
Drawing on the common research interests of gendered language use, language acquirement and literacy in by Fatima Sadiqi, (Fes), Constanze Weth (Osnabrueck) and Sabria Al-Thawr (Sana'a), the discussion centered on the limited research on language and migration — both in communities, which have migrated and for those, which see migration as an option to improve living conditions — and the impact of socio-economic factors. The partners expressed interest in continuing their discussion and exploring the possibility of joint research.
Sunday, May 28, First Session: Research Day contd.
Early Marriage in Yemen
Husnia Al-Kadri, Bilqis Abu Osboa & Antlak Al-Mutawakel, Gender Development Research and Studies Center, University of Sana'a
Cross Border Migration and Trafficking: Processes and Regimes Formation. Status of Somali's Migrants in Yemen
Rukhsana Ismail, Woman's Research & Training Centre, University of Aden
Transmigration and Gender in Yemen
Rukhsana Ismail, Woman's Research & Training Centre, University of Aden
Gender, Citizenship and Political Participation of Yemeni Women during the Colonial Regime — A Historical Approach
Asmahan Aklaan Alaas, Woman's Research & Training Centre, University of Aden
Gender, Citizenship and Political Participation of Yemeni Women in the Former PDRY, 1967-1990
Radyah Shamsher Ali, Woman's Research & Training Centre, University of Aden
Gender and Citizenship
Fatima Sadiqi, Center for Studies and Research on Women, University of Fes
Fragmented Citizenship: Communalism, Ethnicity and Gender in Iraq (presented Tuesday)
Martina Kamp, CvO University of Oldenburg
Gender, Citizenship and Transnational Migration (Friday seminar)
Lydia Potts, CvO University of Oldenburg
Overview on a Women’s Shelter in Aden for Female Former Prisoners on zina-Cases (presented Wednesday)
Radyah Shamsher Ali, Woman's Research & Training Centre, University of Aden
The second part of the research presentation covered the current studies by the centers or by its members in the fields of violence and citizenship. The aims of the session were to introduce the partners to the research frameworks and methods used by the partners, to draw out chapters for the book on gender and violence, and to identify, as already in the session before, key issues for the article on citizenship.
The first paper focused on the study for campaign against early marriage in Yemen planned by Oxfam, the Gender Development Research and Studies Center at University of Sana'a, the Women National Committee, the national women’s organization, and several formal and informal partners. The high level of early marriage in Yemen, the highest in regional comparison, corresponds with high female illiteracy, high health risks for women, low participation of women in the formal labor market and in political and private decision making, and discriminatory laws and practices. The quantitative and qualitative empirical study carried out for the campaign stressed the impact of poverty and the social norms resulting from highly hierarchical gender relations as main reasons for early marriage of girls, e.g. that marriage is a prerequisite for the identity of women as wives and mothers, unmarried girls pose a threat to morals and social norms, endogamous marriage patterns within kin groups, lack of reproductive health knowledge etc. The campaign addresses the national level by the demand to implement a minimum marriage age and targets the population via media, community campaigning, and the link to other development programs.
Finding 4: Gender and (Structural) Violence
One rather interesting result was the shared research interest of the centers at the Universities of Aden and Sana'a, even if they had not embarked on joint studies, but agreed upon starting a debate and sharing their findings. Both partners stressed the importance on structural violence as a key issue for understanding violence in the MENA region and proposed chapters on early marriage (Sana'a) and polygamy (Aden) based on a previous study. Another chapter on violence against women or domestic violence was suggested by Husnia Al-Kadri and is currently discussed in the centre at Sana'a. The project by a women’s group in Aden, a women’s shelter for former female prisoners sentenced for zina reasons, i.e. cases, where the female victims were accused of having defied sexual norms, is a case study of women’s struggle against structural violence, and its documentation should be a further chapter of the book. The partners also expressed interest in a comparative study on women’s shelters.
On behalf of the Woman's Research and Training Centre at the University of Aden, Rukhsanan Ismail presented two studies on migration carried out in cooperation with the WRTC. The first paper addressed migration processes and regimes on the theoretical and methodological level taking into account the changes of human trafficking/migration in the last two decades in the last 25 years, such as the younger age, the unmarried status of the migration persons, the diversification of recruiting methods, forms of work and economic sectors etc. While the norms regulating migration are based on the need of the market, the protection of trafficked persons, though regulated by an UN protocol, is still not implemented in many countries. The study asks for using the ‘individual’ as a unit of analysis. This is the starting point for the second study on transnational families and transnational migrants in/from Basateen at the outskirts of Aden, where the government has allocated land to Yemeni returnees from Somalia. Many families have relatives in European countries, to which they maintain close contact, and migration, e.g. through marriage, is seen as the ultimate way to improve life, which results in a high percentage of transnational families in Basateen.