ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews selective achievements and setbacks experienced by feminists across the MENA region from the mid-1800s until the present. Daunting challenges remain, but the successes and continued efforts to improve women’s lives across the region are all the more impressive because the development of cohesive feminist movements has been complicated by several structural issues: (i) control of civil society and the co-opting of women’s organizations by authoritarian states; (ii) pronounced “familism” and tribalism that create a reality in which individuals’ primary loyalty is directed to the patriarchal family or tribe from which status is derived rather than to other social groups whose members face similar challenges; (iii) extreme economic and political stratification resulting in fundamentally different experiences and worldviews; (iv) religious fundamentalisms that promote strict controls over women; and (v) recurring inter- and intrastate conflicts. Against all these odds, feminist activists have courageously challenged the status quo and worked to improve the quality of life for women throughout the region.
