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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Feminism and Muslim Fundamentalism: The Tunisian and Algerian Cases
Author:Baffoun, Alya
Year:1994
Periodical:Africa Development: A Quarterly Journal of CODESRIA (ISSN 0850-3907)
Volume:19
Issue:2
Pages:5-20
Language:English
Geographic terms:Tunisia
Algeria
Subjects:Islamic movements
women
Women's Issues
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Religion and Witchcraft
Equality and Liberation
Cultural Roles
Politics and Government
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/43658335
Abstract:This article analyses Islamic fundamentalism in Algeria and Tunisia and its consequences for women. The revival of Islam is examined in the light of the national system of government, which in both countries is authoritarian and antidemocratic and based on clientelism, the cultural duality of the Tunisian and Algerian elites, who exercise political control over the national State, and the inconclusive policy of 'modernization' and the resulting economic depression with its negative social consequences. The reactivation of religion in both countries in this time of crisis has led to women being deprived of a substantial part of their social rights. However, there are also differences in the situation of women in both countries. In Tunisia, fundamentalist Islam is officially forbidden. A modernistic vision of Islam is expressed in Tunisian legislation (e.g. the Personal Status Code of 1956, the government's birth control policy), which is to some extent favourable to women. Women also play a role in the labour market, contrary to the situation in Algeria, where women have been expelled from the political, social and economic milieu since independence and where the victory of fundamentalist Islam has exacerbated women's inequality. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in French.
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