Copyright by Rita Stephan 2009
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Copyright by Rita Stephan 2009 The Dissertation Committee for Rita Toufic Stephan Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: The Family and the Making of Women’s Rights Activism in Lebanon Committee: Mounira M. Charrad , Supervisor Christine Williams Michael Young Bryan Roberts Gretchen Ritter Moulouk Berry The Family and the Making of Women’s Rights Activism in Lebanon by Rita Toufic Stephan, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2009 Dedication To Camille, For lifting me up high and filling my life with hope and laughter To Rony and Karla, For being my greatest teachers on the true meaning of life To Odette, People used to tell her to shut me up because I am a girl, but she refused. She wanted me to speak up for my rights and the rights of others. My mother, the ultimate rebel, never shut me up as a child because she wanted me to be a voice for rights To Mounira, For illuminating and guiding my journey to knowledge Acknowledgements This is the story of people who dedicate their lives and hearts to search for the Truth that lies in every tradition and all philosophies. This is a drop in the ocean of attempts to open the eyes of the world to women’s struggle for justice; to teach the world about community; and to show how together, people can turn the desert into an oasis. This dissertation is meant to give voice to women who believe in the interconnectedness of all human beings in all their dichotomies and situations, sovereign and communal, compassionate and resolved, daring and caring, just and assertive. This work is for and about lots of people who offered their personal touch to collectively bring this piece of art to life. Many wonderful teachers, mentors, relatives and friends were a part of this work. My sincere appreciation goes to my dissertation committee and especially my advisor, Professor Mounira Maya Charrad. Professor Charrad has changed my life for the better in many ways, and over many dimensions. Primarily, she has been the mentor who has shaped and refined my research and academic skills. As the chair of my committee, I have always found that when I was puzzled or lost, Professor Charrad would find some way to put me back on my path. Yet she set the bar high for me, and accepted nothing but excellence. When things got tough she knew exactly how to revive my spirit and give me hope. In 2006, when I escaped from the July war in Lebanon, she was with my family every step of the way. She helped me overcome my feelings of victimization and plunge v back into my research. Professor Charrad has also been instrumental in helping me visualize research as a cooperative activity that takes place in a community of colleagues, which is a lesson that I will surely come back to again and again in my career. She showed me how to be a great teacher and scholar. In addition to giving me an invaluable key to the scholarly method – the form of professional sociological training – Professor Charrad also provided me with the substance. I absorbed, and continue to absorb, so much from her engagement in such scholarship–spanning fields as theory, development, political sociology, gender, and religion. I was truly fortunate to benefit from her unique combination of perspectives. Professor Charrad offered a large framework in which to view women’s rights as a political matter in the Middle East, rather than through religious or exclusively activist trajectories. Her “kinship paradigm” presents the family as a contested space for solidarities, identities, and rights. Building on this paradigm, I construct my work, standing on the shoulders of a giant, as she often taught me. Another of my committee members, Professor Christine Williams, touched me with her compassion when she almost literally saved my life by calling upon the University administration to help me escape from the war in Lebanon back to the safety of Austin. She has stood by me, written letters of recommendations on my behalf, and believed in me. In her methods class, I learned to question why I think a certain way, why I believe what I do, and to never take any word, thought or claim lightly. vi I have also been privileged to have Professor Michael Young as a teacher and mentor. Michael introduced me to sociological theory during my first semester at the University of Texas. His lectures were more like stories about old friends of his, who quickly became my friends as well. His enthusiasm for teaching Political Sociology influenced my study of civil society and democracy. I am grateful for Professor Bryan Roberts’ generosity. As a member of my comprehensive exam and dissertation committees, Bryan has been very supportive of my academic progress and personally committed to advancing my interests and expanding my learning experience. I learned so much from Professor Gretchen Ritter’s leadership in the Center for Gender and Women’s Studies and from her guidance as a member of my dissertation committee. Her clarifying comments and references amazed me and helped me transition almost painlessly from the proposal phase to the dissertation phase. Professor Moulouk Berry has been a friend and a colleague since we met at the Middle Eastern Studies Association Conference in San Francisco in 2004. I found that listening to her constructive comments always seemed to help me with my professional career and academic research. I will never forget our long telephone conversations about scholarship and the Middle East during her stays in the Emirates or in Michigan. vii I thank the Sociology Department Chair, Professor Bob Hummer, not only for helping me in advancing my career goals, but also—and how often can a student say this?—for helping me get out of the war Lebanon in 2006. Of course I cannot forget the support and guidance that Professors Christopher Ellison, Sharmila Rudrappa, Susan Heinzelman, Cynthia Buckley, and Marc Musick. I am grateful to the entire faculty in the Sociology department for making the past seven years memorable ones. I have learned a lot from a wonderful group of scholars who have mentored and guided me and helped me understand myself and the multi-cultural societies in which I live. As I gear up to graduate, I will take with me not only the wonderful memories, but also the knowledge and perseverance that will steer my career to success. I am forever grateful to the financial and emotional support I received from the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, Center for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. I am honored to have received the Dissertation Fellowship from the American Association of University Women, as well as the Dissertation Scholar Award from the Providing Equal Opportunities for Women Sisterhood International. At PEO, I am especially thankful to Mel Boggins and Marti McLain for their encouragement and friendship, and to Andrea Methven for her assistance. In Lebanon, I acknowledge the memory and activism of the Late Laure Moghaizel, who was always a voice for peace, nonviolence and human rights. I am honored to have had viii the opportunity to meet the notable activists Linda Mattar and Wadad Chakhtoura. I am also grateful for the friendship I developed with professors Azza Charara Beydoun, Mona Fayad, Marguerite Helou, Fadia Hoteit, Fehmieh Charafeddine, Aman Shaarani, and Lamiah Rustum Shehadeh; as well as Maîtres Iqbal Dughan, Mary Rose Zalzal, and Rana Chamseddine. I appreciate the time given to me by such scholars as Ugarit Younan, Amal Dibo, and Jean Said Makdisi. I learned hope from women whose lives have been shattered many times by war. Yet, they kept struggling because hope was the only thing they had. I especially remember Afifa Al-Said, Nada Majed, Lora Sfeir, Lina Abou Habib, Lina Alameddine, Caroline Slaibi, Rasha Moumneh, and Aida Nassrallah. Finally, I am grateful to the generosity of the Honorables Nayla Moawad and Nuhad Suaid, as well as Princess Hayat Arslan, Mrs. Rabab Sadr Charafeddine, Mrs. Nora Jumblat and Mrs. Rima Fakhry. At the Lebanese American University’s Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World, I thank Professor Dima Sensenig-Dabbous, Mrs. Anita Nassar, Maysam Hajj Balan and Miriam Sfeir. At the Lebanese Emigration Research Center at Notre Dame University, I am grateful to Ms. Guita Hourani, Professor Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous, Rudy Sassine, Ghada Khoury and Elie el-Mir. At the American University of Beirut’s Social and Behavioral Program, I appreciate the support of Professor Samir Khalaf and Mrs. Leila Jbara. And at the National Evangelical Church of Beirut I appreciate getting to know Rev. Habib Badr and Rima Nasrallah van Saane. ix In the Prophet , Lebanese-American philosopher Khalil Gibran described the family as the bow from which “children as living arrows are sent forth.” Just as the bow is essential to the arrow, my family’s unconditional support of me has made this dissertation possible. My husband and best friend, Camille, made a commitment to me at our wedding: “I promise to be your best friend and your confidante, to listen to you, and to share your plans and interests, ideas and emotions, dreams and secrets.” Camille has been a coach, a cheerleader, a shoulder, and a co-pilot. He read my writings, provided every aspect of technical support that has made this project a smooth ride, and filled the void of my absence in the children’s lives.