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Transforming Constraint: Transnational Feminist Movement Building in the Middle East and North Africa

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Transforming Constraint: Transnational Feminist Movement Building in the Middle East and North Africa Transforming Constraint: Transnational Feminist Movement Building in the Middle East and North Africa Author: Alexandra Pittman Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2220 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2009 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Boston College The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Departments of Sociology and Psychology TRANSFORMING CONSTRAINT: TRANSNATIONAL FEMINIST MOVEMENT BUILDING IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA A dissertation by ALEXANDRA PITTMAN submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July 2009 i © copyright by ALEXANDRA VICTORIA PITTMAN 2009 ii Transforming Constraint: Transnational Feminist Movement Building in the Middle East and North Africa By Alexandra Pittman Dissertation Advisors: Ali Banuazizi and Sarah Babb ABSTRACT This dissertation focuses on the intersection of global and indigenous advocacy strategies in feminist women’s movements in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). I explore strategies of resistance and innovation in three contexts: (1) Globally, I analyze a sample of MENA NGOs in a transnational women’s rights network, Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP) and their interactions in the international funding sphere; (2) Domestically, I examine a local Moroccan NGO’s strategy development process and their domestic and regional partnerships when organizing to reform the Moudawana (1999- 2004); and (3) Regionally, I analyze inter-organizational collaboration and coalition building between three NGOs in the Campaign to Reform Arab Women’s Nationality (2001-2008). I locate the dissertation in a feminist activist framework and draw from diverse data sources, including years of fieldwork with WLP (2004-2008); participant observation and notes from five transnational women’s rights meetings (2005-2008); a content analysis of a sample of international funders’ and MENA feminist NGOs’ websites; and two in-depth case studies with data derived from historical analysis, three months of fieldwork in Morocco, interviews with Moroccan, Lebanese, and regional activists, and secondary document analysis. The findings provide deeper clarity into the strategic action of MENA feminist movements and the variety of social, political, and economic forces that shape their discourses and practices for achieving social change and gender equality. The findings contribute to the scholarly literature on transnational feminism and social movements and its intersection with the law. iii Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ vi Table of Figures ………………………………………………………………………………………….i x Preface................................................................................................................................. x Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 1 Transnational Feminism in Focus: The Women’s Learning Partnership ........................ 4 Vernacularizing the Global .............................................................................................. 8 Human Rights as Women’s Rights ................................................................................ 16 Diverse Feminist Positions on Law Reform in the MENA ........................................... 20 The Structure of the Dissertation ................................................................................... 24 Limitations of the Study................................................................................................. 28 INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES AND NGO STRATEGY ......................................... 30 Chapter 2: Human Rights Discourses in the NGO and International Funding Spheres: Areas of Coalescence and Convergence ........................................................................... 31 The Funding Context in the MENA............................................................................... 32 International Development Frameworks and Women’s Rights ..................................... 34 International Donors’ Philosophies of Social Change ................................................... 39 Women’s Rights Organizations’ Philosophies of Social Change .................................. 45 Human Rights, Islam, and Feminism: Linking the Global and Local ........................... 50 Contextualizing Human Rights and Religion: Claiming Our Rights ............................. 57 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 63 Chapter 3: Transnational Feminist Strategies for Increasing Funding Power .................. 65 Locating the Power and Agency in the Global Advocacy Community ......................... 65 Power and Professionalization in Focus ........................................................................ 71 The Partnership as the Mediator of External Threats .................................................... 74 The Possibilities of Professionalization ......................................................................... 77 Strategies for Asserting Power in Funding Relationships ............................................. 81 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 86 NGO LEGISLATIVE REFORM EFFORTS: BRIDGING THE GLOBAL AND LOCAL ........................................................................................................................................... 88 Chapter 4: Bridging Discourses: Moroccan Women’s Rights Activists Framing the Necessity of Islamic Family Law Reform ........................................................................ 89 Framing the Reform ....................................................................................................... 90 The Social and Demographic Context in Morocco ........................................................ 93 The Promulgation of the Moudawana ........................................................................... 98 iv The Moudawana and Women’s Rights........................................................................ 101 The Emergence of Civil Society and the Women’s Movement .................................. 103 Early Campaign Successes in the Moudawana Reform .............................................. 107 Contentious Discourses: The Battle over Referents .................................................... 109 Feminists’ Adaptive Strategizing ................................................................................. 115 Strategic Framing: Re-appropriating the Religious ..................................................... 121 Diversifying Frames: Integrating the Sociological, International, and Constitutional 125 Cross-Cutting Discourses: Lived Experiences, Aspirations, and Law Reform ........... 127 The Family Law Reform .............................................................................................. 129 Implications of the Reform .......................................................................................... 131 Constraints as Innovation Catalysts ............................................................................. 136 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 139 Chapter 5: Beyond the Local: Cross-Regional Strategizing and Coalition Building for Nationality Reform ......................................................................................................... 144 Coalition Building: Elements of Success ..................................................................... 145 Overview of Nationality and Citizenship in the Maghreb ........................................... 147 Global Strategy Development ...................................................................................... 150 Local Nationality Campaign Implementation in Morocco .......................................... 155 International Coalition Building for Nationality Reform ............................................ 162 The Power of Movement Learning .............................................................................. 167 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 173 Chapter 6: Conclusion: New Paths and Resources for Transnational Movement Building ......................................................................................................................................... 175 Agency, Resistance, and Negotiation: Institutional and Normative Power ................. 176 The Role of Movement Learning ................................................................................. 179 The Importance of Legal Contexts to Movements ...................................................... 189 Building Global Movements for the Future ................................................................. 191 Appendix 1 Dissertation Methodology ..........................................................................
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