Women Rising

An amazing, timely, and spectacular contribution to the scholarship on women’s empowerment in the context of the Arab world. The volume brings together works by the field’s most renowned experts. It captures theoretical debates, empirical nuances and a remarkable and sophisticated lens that captures the daily lives and experiences of Arab women. This is a must-read! Stephan and Charrad have assembled a masterpiece! ~Amaney A. Jamal, author of Barriers to Democracy: The Other Side of Social Capital in Palestine and the Arab World

In Women Rising, activists, scholars, politicians, and artists tell a compelling story of women’s mobilization before, during, and after the Arab uprising of 2011. Well written and analytically powerful, these essays show us the important role women have played in the struggle for democracy, social justice, and women’s rights across the diverse communities in the region. Pushing the boundaries of the study of feminist resistance, this book will inspire students, scholars, and activists. ~Verta Taylor, co-editor of Feminist Frontiers

A rich collection that records the life and efforts of women during a critical point of history for Arab women as they struggle against odds that often seem insurmountable. ~Amira Sonbol, author of The New Mamluks: Egyptian Society and Modern Feudalism

The message of this inspiring collection of personal reflections from Arab women activists of various types is that the Arab Spring is far from over - even bloody civil wars are not extinguishing women’s efforts to be heard in calling for reform, resistance and even revolution! The activist chorus so effectively captured here includes poetry, academic essays, accounts of organizing experiences and political reflections from more or less successfully democratized countries. Each contribution is a striking solo, but they harmonize nicely, pointing together to the variety of roots of women’s rebellions in 2010 and the diversity of blooms still opening since! ~Myra Marx Ferree, author of Varieties of Feminism: German Gender Politics in Global Perspective

A uniquely stimulating and timely compendium teeming with Arab women’s voices and multiple forms of activism before, during and after the Arab uprisings. Using varied forms of expression, from art and literary production to political commentary, this volume offers a definitive challenge to misrepresentations of Arab women’s agency and their ongoing roles in democratic struggles. ~Deniz Kandiyoti, co-editor of Gender, Governance, and Islam

This exciting and unique collection of essays by Arab activists, politicians, scholars, and others is remarkable in its breadth, covering a wide range of Arab countries and contexts to explore the activism of women before, during and after the Arab Spring uprisings. This important and impressive contribution to the study of women’s activism in the region reveals distinctive features of Arab women’s struggles and the national and local origins of their protests. It shows how women, through their very presence in protests, transformed the relationship of women to public space. Women were emboldened through their organizations; they increased political representation; and made legislative changes. But they also asserted their creative agency through literature, film, street art, the photographic lens, and many other forms of expression. ~Aili Mari Tripp, author of Seeking Legitimacy: Why Arab Autocracies Adopt Women's Rights

A welcomed reaffirmation that women have been and successfully continue to work for change as well as a much needed resource for area scholars and those who want to know women can accomplish. ~Al Jadid

Delivers theoretical and empirical insights to the field of Middle East, gender and women’s studies. Stephan and Charrad bring together different stories of resistances and diverse voices of change and thus challenge essentialist and ahistorical readings of women and gender in the region. ~Comparative Politics

For educators teaching about the region, selections from the anthology are an excellent source of potential course material ... The editors have done a truly impressive job of collating work by a wide range of individuals writing about a large number of countries. ~The Middle East Journal

Through a reading of Women Rising, one can observe how Arab women’s activism has repositioned following the Arab Spring and increasingly, Arab women are using new modes of mobilizing and organizing to better represent themselves and simultaneously, upset normative ideas of Arab women. This in itself is a reclamation of Arab women’s identity, which as this volume clearly indicates, is not a monolith. ~Journal of International Women's Studies