Overview

"This analysis explores gender relations in Algeria from the pre-colonial era to the present. By tracing the changes in women's roles, it illuminates the achievements as well as the setbacks that characterize women's lives in contemporary Africa and makes a contribution to feminist debates about how to conceptualize the experience of women whose history, culture and nationality are ""different"". Using an interdisciplinary approach, the book marks a major departure from more traditional studies of Algerian women which usually examine female roles in relation to Islam. It argues that Algerian women's roles are shaped by a variety of structural and symbolic factors, including: colonial domination, demographic change, nationalism, socialist development policy of the 1960s and 1970s, family formation and the progressive shift to a capitalist economy. Special attention is given to the rise of fundamentalism and its impact on gender relations."

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9780415907316

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Reviews

"""Professor Lazreg's book is an important corrective to other studies of women in the Middle East published in recent years. She makes many insightful and original points about Algerian women and the question of why Algerian society has produced traditional concepts of femininity despite women's full participation in the revolution. The success of the book lies in her solid analysis of the modern historical background--in its social, economic and political dimensions."" -Jeanette Wakin, Columbia University ""Only Marnia Lazreg could have written this valuable book. Her ability for original thinking and incisive analysis is already well documented in her earlier works. In this work, however, she combines these abilities with a unique perspective. This perspective is rooted in her experience as a feminist who actually endured the colonialization of her homeland by a Western power and then lived in the United States through the second wave of feminism and interacted with it. This book articulates in an authentic voice some of the major concerns of Third World women who, while committed to feminism, are deeply troubled by the Western, middle-class face of the movement. It is a book everyone should read."" -Azizah al-Hibri, University of Richmond ""Spanning more than a century of history, from precolonial times to the present, Lazreg's examination of the political and cultural processes that have shaped gender relations in Algeria is both thorough and bold."" -""Ms."

Professor Lazreg's book is an important corrective to other studies of women in the Middle East published in recent years. She makes many insightful and original points about Algerian women and the question of why Algerian society has produced traditional concepts of femininity despite women's full participation in the revolution. The success of the book lies in her solid analysis of the modern historical background--in its social, economic and political dimensions. -Jeanette Wakin, Columbia University Only Marnia Lazreg could have written this valuable book. Her ability for original thinking and incisive analysis is already well documented in her earlier works. In this work, however, she combines these abilities with a unique perspective. This perspective is rooted in her experience as a feminist who actually endured the colonialization of her homeland by a Western power and then lived in the United States through the second wave of feminism and interacted with it. This book articulates in an authentic voice some of the major concerns of Third World women who, while committed to feminism, are deeply troubled by the Western, middle-class face of the movement. It is a book everyone should read. -Azizah al-Hibri, University of Richmond Spanning more than a century of history, from precolonial times to the present, Lazreg's examination of the political and cultural processes that have shaped gender relations in Algeria is both thorough and bold. - Ms.

Professor Lazreg's book is an important corrective to other studies of women in the Middle East published in recent years. She makes many insightful and original points about Algerian women and the question of why Algerian society has produced traditional concepts of femininity despite women's full participation in the revolution. The success of the book lies in her solid analysis of the modern historical background--in its social, economic and political dimensions. <br>-Jeanette Wakin, Columbia University <br> Only Marnia Lazreg could have written this valuable book. Her ability for original thinking and incisive analysis is already well documented in her earlier works. In this work, however, she combines these abilities with a unique perspective. This perspective is rooted in her experience as a feminist who actually endured the colonialization of her homeland by a Western power and then lived in the United States through the second wave of feminism and interacted with it. This book articulates in an authentic voice some of the major concerns of Third World women who, while committed to feminism, are deeply troubled by the Western, middle-class face of the movement. It is a book everyone should read. <br>-Azizah al-Hibri, University of Richmond <br> Spanning more than a century of history, from precolonial times to the present, Lazreg's examination of the political and cultural processes that have shaped gender relations in Algeria is both thorough and bold. <br>- Ms. <br>

Professor Lazreg's book is an important corrective to other studies of women in the Middle East published in recent years. She makes many insightful and original points about Algerian women and the question of why Algerian society has produced traditional concepts of femininity despite women's full participation in the revolution. The success of the book lies in her solid analysis of the modern historical background--in its social, economic and political dimensions. -Jeanette Wakin, Columbia University Only Marnia Lazreg could have written this valuable book. Her ability for original thinking and incisive analysis is already well documented in her earlier works. In this work, however, she combines these abilities with a unique perspective. This perspective is rooted in her experience as a feminist who actually endured the colonialization of her homeland by a Western power and then lived in the United States through the second wave of feminism and interacted with it. This book articulates in an authentic voice some of the major concerns of Third World women who, while committed to feminism, are deeply troubled by the Western, middle-class face of the movement. It is a book everyone should read. -Azizah al-Hibri, University of Richmond Spanning more than a century of history, from precolonial times to the present, Lazreg's examination of the political and cultural processes that have shaped gender relations in Algeria is both thorough and bold. - Ms.

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