women’s future success in moving beyond the
boundaries dictated by conservative nationalists
and Islamists depends on state gender policies, the
strength of civil society, especially women’s NGOs,
and the legal establishment of human rights at a
general level.
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Marie-Carin von GumppenbergEgypt, Sudan and Arab StatesGlobalization and democratization have cata-
pulted issues of citizenship to international and
national prominence. Discussions abound on the
rights of citizens vis-à-vis the state, the quality of
relations between the state and civil society, the sta-
tus of immigrants, and the rights of women. In
Arab states, tackling the problem of women’s sec-
ond-class citizenship has acquired urgency, chiefly
because of the demands of women’s movements.
Constructions of citizenship are gendered and in-
scribed in state policies and legal frameworks (for
example, constitutions, family laws, labor laws,
and socioeconomic policies), in religio-cultural in-
stitutions and practices (for example, Islamic laws
and norms), and in popular discourses. Laws,
norms, and discourses often cast “authentic citi-
zenship” as adherence to Islam and the state, while
the media, schools, and religious institutions also
reproduce images of “the ideal Muslim woman.”
Constructions of citizenship usually differentiate
between nationals and non-nationals, women and
men, and Muslim and non-Muslim citizens. Civil,
egypt, sudan and arab states 21political, and social rights are generally circum-
scribed, but nationals, men, and Muslims have
more citizenship rights than non-nationals,
women, and non-Muslims. Disparities between
women and men are captured in indicators of citi-
zenship such as educational attainment, access to
employment and income, control over the body
and fertility, and political participation.
The growing literature on Arab women’s citizen-
ship (Shehadeh 1998, Botman 1999, Hammami
and Johnson 1999, Joseph 2000, Charrad 2001,
Moghadam 2002, 2003b) draws attention to con-
structions of women’s citizenship and campaigns
for equality and empowerment. Empirical studies
show that many Arab women are cognizant of their
second-class citizenship and desire expanded rights
and equality. One study found that refugee and
low-income women in the West Bank cited the fol-
lowing desired rights: education, work, and free-
dom of movement; and the right to take one’s
inheritance, choose a marriage partner, and be free
from domestic violence (Rubenberg 2001, 123).
These aspirations are common throughout the Arab
region, where women’s organizations seek the re-
form of family laws, the criminalization of domes-
tic violence (including “honor killings”), enhanced
nationality rights, and greater political and eco-
nomic participation.Aspects of women’s
second-class citizenship
Sharì≠a-based family laws or civil codes – which
govern marriage, divorce, maintenance, paternity,
and custody of children – place women in a disad-
vantaged position in the family and the society, des-
ignating them as wives, mothers, and daughters,
and conferring greater privileges on men. Since the
early 1980s, and in a more concerted fashion since
the early 1990s, feminists and women’s organiza-
tions have prioritized legal reforms to expand their
citizenship rights. Feminist research, advocacy, and
lobbying efforts are directed at governments, clergy,
the media, international organizations, and the
transnational public sphere. Women have deployed
secular, universal, and Islamic discourses to dis-
seminate their ideas and achieve their goals (Mog-
hadam 2003a).
Reform of family law is important for several
reasons: it is a central element in the modernization
of religious institutions and norms in Muslim soci-
eties; it establishes women’s human rights and their
equality within the family and vis-à-vis male kin; it
has implications for women’s wider citizenship
rights and their social participation, including eco-
nomic citizenship; and it brings the Arab states in