The Pitfalls of Disentangling Women's Agency from Accountability for Gender Equality Outcomes: The Case of Egypt
This paper includes examples from the early 20th century as well as in the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution of 2011.
Abstract
The representation of Middle Eastern women in Western scholarship in particular has been critiqued in post colonialist and feminist scholarship for its racist underpinnings embedded in broader colonialist constructs. This rich body of scholarship has contributed to a paradigmatic shift in how the 鈥渨oman question鈥� is addressed in Western academic engagement with women in the Middle East. This article, however, interrogates whether the counter-narratives have created new binary constructs in their representations of women鈥檚 agency whose impact has been detrimental to local feminist struggles for gender equality. It explores the problematics of using an analytical framing that disassociates expressions of women鈥檚 collective agency from the gender equality agenda and its implications for coalitional work by looking at examples from the early 20th century as well as in the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution of 2011.
This work is part of the Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA) programme
Citation
Tadros, M. (2018) The Pitfalls of Disentangling Women鈥檚 Agency from Accountability for Gender Equality Outcomes: The Case of Egypt. Feminist Dissent, (3), 57-87