ABSTRACT
European penetration and consequent domination in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries had a profound effect on women's lives-irrespective of differences in the timing and degree to which individual communities and social groups were affected. Post-independence North Africa boasted an increasing number of female physicians, engineers, academics, lawyers, and, in Tunisia, judges. Women also attained the position of minister, albeit restricted to "female" concerns such as social affairs. Socially, the development of a market economy caused differentiation among the masses of peasants and created a new class of rural dwellers with urban contacts, in addition to migrants in urban centers where their labor was exploited by the state. Women's assumption of additional responsibilities associated with male sojourn has significant social implications which transcend familial concerns and local communities. In rural areas, the impact or Egypt's openness to regional petro-economy and culture has been shown to vary in relation to the social differentiation of the peasantry.
