ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of women’s movements in shaping Euro-Mediterranean politics. The analysis starts with the discussion of women’s movements during the colonial era. In this period, women took part in anti-colonial struggles as Islamists, socialists and nationalists. This is followed by a discussion of the second period when the women’s movements were banned, co-opted or instrumentalized by the postcolonial states. In this second period, women’s movements continued their struggles, forming coalitions with both state and non-state level actors in order to advance their position. Finally, the discussion will move to the women’s movements in the post-2011 Euro-Mediterranean region in order to analyse how the uprisings have affected the women in the region. In all three periods, THE EU’s policies towards the women’s movements in MENA will be discussed in order to detect continuities or changes in relation to political transformations in the region. Therefore, the main objectives of this chapter are to historicize the women’s movements in the Mediterranean region, understand their strategies in shaping political processes with both their states and the EU, and examine the positions of the EU regarding gender politics in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
