Bargaining for Women's Rights
Activism in an Aspiring Muslim Democracy
Published on 30. June 2015
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-8166-9217-0 (ISBN)
Description
Gender relations in Muslim-majority countries have been subject to intense debate in recent decades. In some cases, Muslim women have fought for and won new rights to political participation, reproductive health, and education. In others, their agendas have been stymied. Yet missing from this discussion, until now, has been a systematic examination of how civil society groups mobilize to promote women's rights and how multiple components of the state negotiate such legislation.
In Bargaining for Women's Rights, Alice J. Kang argues that reform is more likely to happen when the struggle arises from within. Focusing on how a law on gender quotas and a United Nations treaty on ending discrimination against women passed in Niger while family law reform and an African Union protocol on women's rights did not, Kang shows how local women's associations are uniquely positioned to translate global concepts of democracy and human rights into concrete policy proposals. And yet, drawing on numerous interviews with women's rights activists as well as Islamists and politicians, she reveals that the former are not the only ones who care about the regulation of gender relations.
Providing a solid analytic framework for understanding conflict over women's rights policies without stereotyping Muslims, Bargaining for Women's Rights demonstrates that, contrary to conventional wisdom, Islam does not have a uniformly negative effect on the prospects of such legislation.
In Bargaining for Women's Rights, Alice J. Kang argues that reform is more likely to happen when the struggle arises from within. Focusing on how a law on gender quotas and a United Nations treaty on ending discrimination against women passed in Niger while family law reform and an African Union protocol on women's rights did not, Kang shows how local women's associations are uniquely positioned to translate global concepts of democracy and human rights into concrete policy proposals. And yet, drawing on numerous interviews with women's rights activists as well as Islamists and politicians, she reveals that the former are not the only ones who care about the regulation of gender relations.
Providing a solid analytic framework for understanding conflict over women's rights policies without stereotyping Muslims, Bargaining for Women's Rights demonstrates that, contrary to conventional wisdom, Islam does not have a uniformly negative effect on the prospects of such legislation.
Reviews / Votes
"Alice J. Kang compellingly argues that governments are more likely to adopt women's rights reforms when local activists mobilize for them, that opposing activists must also be considered, and that political context is essential for understanding outcomes around women's rights."-Gretchen Bauer, University of Delaware"Bargaining for Women's Rights is a refreshing approach to thinking about women's rights in majority Muslim countries that captures how civil society groups mobilize and how multiple components of 'the state' actually debate women's rights legislation."-Barbara Cooper, Rutgers University "[Kang] includes an impressive combination of original empirical research and review and analysis of alternative hypotheses to assert the argument that women, and women's movements, matter in the adoption of gender equality policies."-CHOICE
"An engaging, detailed look at how women activists played a vital role in Niger's adoption of women's rights policies."-Washington Post
"Fills an important research void on determinants of women's rights policy making in Muslim-majority democracies."-International Journal of Feminist Politics
"Scholars in political science, sociology, women's studies, and public policy will benefit from the theoretical and substantive contributions of Bargaining for Women's Rights."-Mobilization
"An impressive study of the competition between women activists and religious conservatives in Muslim-majority, francophone Niger."-Canadian Journal of Political Science
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Minnesota
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
11
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 38 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-8166-9217-0 (9780816692170)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Alice J. Kang is assistant professor of political science and ethnic studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Content
Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction: Women's Rights in an African Muslim Democracy
1. A French Colonial Legacy: The Making of Niger's Legal System
2. The Puzzle of Non-Adoption: Why Niger Has No Family Code
3. Bargaining for Women's Representation: The Adoption of a Gender Quota
4. Bringing Rights Home: How Niger Ratified CEDAW and Rejected the Maputo Protocol
Conclusion: Rethinking Women's Activism
Appendix: Research Methods
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction: Women's Rights in an African Muslim Democracy
1. A French Colonial Legacy: The Making of Niger's Legal System
2. The Puzzle of Non-Adoption: Why Niger Has No Family Code
3. Bargaining for Women's Representation: The Adoption of a Gender Quota
4. Bringing Rights Home: How Niger Ratified CEDAW and Rejected the Maputo Protocol
Conclusion: Rethinking Women's Activism
Appendix: Research Methods
Notes
Bibliography
Index