The Arab State and women's rights : the trap of authoritarian governance / Elham Manea.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [222]-229) and index.

Theoretical framework. Suffrage rights versus personal status rights in Arab states -- State and gender politics in comparative politics and Middle East studies: Comparative politics ; Middle East area studies -- The Arab authoritarian state and women's rights: a framework for analysis: Arab state formation, lack of legitimacy, and the traditional base of power ; The authoritarian Arab state and women's rights : terminology, assumptions, and methodology -- Arab state formation, social fragmentation, and gender politics. State formation in the pre-independence periods : Internal dimension : social fragmentation of the pre-independent arab state ; External dimension : the creation and deformation of the institutional base of the pre-independent Arab state -- Family laws and suffrage rights in the pre-independence periods: Yemen ; Kuwait ; Syria -- The Arab authoritarian state and women's rights. Features of the post-colonial Arab authoritarian state and gender politics: an approach: Background ; First feature : legitimacy ; Second feature : the traditional base of power ; Third feature : the politics of survival ; The state and gender politics in an Arab context -- First case study : Yemen: Family laws ; Suffrage rights -- Second case study : Kuwait: Family law ; Suffrage rights -- Third case study : Syria: Family laws ; Suffrage rights -- Conclusion: The authoritive state.

Researchers studying gender politics in Arab societies have been puzzled by a phenomenon common in many Arab states {u2013} while women are granted suffrage rights, they are often discriminated against by the state in their private lives. This book addresses this phenomenon, maintaining that the Arab state functions according to a certain {u2018}logic{u2019} and {u2018}patterns{u2019} which have direct consequences on its gender policies, in both the public and private spheres. Using the features of the Arab Authoritarian state as a basis for a theoretical framework of analysis, the author draws on detailed fieldwork and first-hand interviews to study women{u2019}s rights in three countries - Yemen, Syria, and Kuwait. She argues that the puzzle may be resolved once we focus on the features of the Arab state, and its stage of development. Offering a new approach to the study of gender and politics in Arab states, this book will be of great interest to scholars and students of gender studies, international politics and Middle East studies.