Politics and Gender — A Transnational Research and Teaching
Network
Documentation of the Initial Partner Workshop
Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, 26-30 May, 2006
The initial partner workshop, the official launch of the project, was the first meeting of all
research centers, the university and NGO partners participating in the network on politics and
gender. The aims of the project include research, qualification of young scholars, curriculum
development, and outreach activities with civil society actors and the academic public. The
network comprises a multi-layered cooperation of five university institutions with diverse
policies of higher education, gender mainstreaming and administrative guidelines. The
partner workshop and the respective partner meetings at the CvO University of Oldenburg in
spring and summer 2006 served firstly, to evaluate the ongoing research and curriculum
development already accomplished by the partners and the student fellows. Secondly, and
according to the dialogical dimension of the network, the partner workshop constituted a
platform of discussion to define research questions as well as the projects and activities
which will be carried through in the following years.
Friday, May 26, First Session: Keynote Address
The Feminization of Public Space: Women’s Activism, the Family Law, and Social Change in
Morocco
Fatima Sadiqi and Moha Ennaji, University of Fes
In their lecture, Fatima Sadiqi and Moha Ennaji addressed the recent reform of citizenship
rights and family law in Morocco, which resulted into one of the most progressive laws on
women’s legal status in the MENA region. In spite of the protests by political Islam activists
that this law would contradict the shari'a, it was backed by the Moroccan king as in
accordance with religious principles and it then passed the parliament. According to both
researchers, the king’s support was a prerequisite not only for the enactment of the law, but
will also be crucial for the transformation in jurisdiction and law enforcement which have yet
to take place. The progressive stand of the head of state was not the exclusive cause for
reform, though.
The debate about the new law partially reflects that the feminist movement has considerably
shaped the public space in Morocco in the last decades and especially since 1996. The
movement contributed a producer of ideas and through its activism. It now constitutes a
political actor itself – in spite of the meager representation of women in parliament.
The political arena in Morocco is divided into different political spaces. In the public space –
the civil society –, the feminist movement contradicts the political Islam activists, and
negotiates with formal institutions. The public space discourses are held in a continuum of
egalitarianism, liberal Islam and political Islam. The religious legitimacy of the monarchy,
however, eases the tension between state and political Islam and creates a culture of Islam,
which mediates the contradicting perceptions of tradition and modernity and their impact on
gender relations.
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The lecture underlined the importance of citizenship as a key issue for the research network
in questioning gendered citizenship rights and calling for strategies to establish egalitarian
rights. The Moroccan discourse on the reform also pointed to the second focus of research
the relationship of gender and violence on the structural and normative level.
In the following discussion, the question emerged if the Moroccan example is unique in the
sense that the culture of Islam embedded in everyday life (as well as in the monarchy)
contrasts the project of political Islam. The fact that the tension between tradition and
modernity is softened in contemporary Moroccan political discourse, enlarges the public
space for the feminist movement. It eases its quest to prove its authenticity as opposed to be
an expression of western influence.
The researches pointed out that the comparative flourishing of the feminist movement in
Morocco is based on the successful claim for public space. The rebellion against allocation
and limitation of space seems to be more productive than combating images such as
feminism being identified with ideas of western consumerism.
Friday, May 26, Second Session: Fellows’ Day
A key element of the network is the qualification of young scholars. In the three sessions, two
on Friday, one on Saturday, fellows from the partner universities presented their graduate
and post-graduate research projects and received feedback from all participants.
Women and Politics 1: Civil Society and Social Movements
Women and Politics
Hanane Darghour, University of Fes
Civil Society, Democracy and the Women’s Movement in Morocco
Mohammed Yachoulti, University of Fes
The Role of Civil Society Organizations and Women’s Political Participation
Nadia Al-Asri, University of Sana'a
The Emergence of Islamic Feminism
Shafika Anwer Abdul Aziz Fakir, University of Aden
Most presenters focused on the key role of NGOs as civil society actors pressing for social
change. In the discussions, the main issues raised were on definitions of civil society in the
MENA region and on theoretical assessments. Two of the standard paradigms were
addressed: the question of western influences on NGOs and the debate on authenticity, as
well as the idea that in the MENA civil society is either ‘not yet developed’ or ‘failing’. To
overcome these binary oppositions, it was suggested that a fresh view might be possible by
using the idea of the ‘new social movements’ as discussed in the European context, i.e.
bringing in non-organized or loosely-organized actors. This wider scope, however, has rarely
been used to understand civil societies in the region.
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Women and Politics 2: Body Practices and Representations
First Explorative Studies on Female Body Practices and Sports in Yemen
Rea Kodalle, CvO University of Oldenburg
Politics of the Body — The Body as Political Issue
Carlotta Schulte Ostermann, CvO University of Oldenburg
Self-representations of Women in Palestine and Germany
Ulrike Lingen-Ali, CvO University of Oldenburg
Although the study of body politics is a comparatively new field of research in the social
sciences, there exists a vast literature on the body and sexuality of women in the MENA
region, as practices such as veiling or sex segregation are key topics in the Orientalist
discourse. The discussion focused on methodological questions, i. e. how to overcome forms
of ‘Othering’ while addressing and discussing difference.
Saturday, May 27, First Session: Fellows’ Day contd.
Women and Politics 3: Cultural and Economic Dimensions
Media, Gender and Politics in Two Francophone Magazines
Kamal Elaissaoui, University of Fes
Gender Differences on Learning Strategies, Motivation and Achievement
Sabria Al-Thawr, University of Sana'a
The Impact of Economic Reform on Gender in Yemen
Suhair Atef, University of Sana'a
The Phenomenon of Female Labour Migrants in Yemen (paper distributed)
Sabine Falke, CvO University of Oldenburg
Female Heads of Households: The Impact of Male Migration on Gender Roles in Rural
Morocco
Eva Fuchs, University of Hamburg
The papers tackled a broad range of aspects and varied to a great extent in the research
frameworks, theoretical concepts and methodological approaches as they cover the field of
media analysis, linguistics, economy and anthropology. Nevertheless, they offered the option
to explore common research interests among the partners involved such as research in
language use (Fes, Osnabrueck and Sana'a), discourse analysis (Fes and Oldenburg), and
economic and social dimensions of migration (Aden, Fes, Oldenburg and Sana'a).
The general issues raised in the discussions may be summarized into the following: firstly,
the methodological problems put forward by the fellows were the lack of training in social
science research methodology. This includes training for empirical research, but also basic
techniques of collecting and choosing literature and other sources as well as the critical
reading and the interpretation of texts. The lack of literature, but also censorship are part of
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the problem. Secondly, the definitions und the understanding of gender vary to a great extent
and shape the use of this analytical tool.
Consequently, for the project network it is necessary to:
start a debate on the conceptual framework of gender;
 develop a basic teaching unit on gender as part of the curriculum development
activities;
 and improve the methodological training in existing curriculums.
Finding 1: Fellows’ Network
One element of the fellow network is the presentation of the research on the internet
homepage of the project, which allows the contact among the fellows and the partners, and
is a platform for presenting research abstracts, which all fellows are asked to contribute. The
research reports (10-15 pages), which the fellows have to deliver after their individual
stipends, covers the research question, the research process and include the preliminary
findings. They will be distributed among the partners.
The evaluation of for research and support by the network and the coordinators should also
be included and will help to improve the research stays of the fellows.
Saturday, May 27, Second Session: Research Day
Women in the Public Space: Inroads and Representations
Amatalrauf Alsharki, CDPF Sana'a
Islam and Migration: Muslim Girls and the Veiling Issue in Germany (presented on Monday)
Yasemin Karakasoglu, University of Bremen
Arabic and French Writing Practices in Southern France
Constanze Weth, University of Osnabrueck
The three papers covered current research topics of the cooperation partners. Amatalrauf
Alsharki presented the work of the Cultural Development Program Foundation, which has
centered on the exhibitions and workshops on ‘State Dress and Identity’ held in several
Yemeni cities. The project aims at giving insights into the national history of Yemen and
protecting its unity through the contextualizing of various emblems, representations and
codes in different historical settings. The clothes of female politicians, and women of the
royal or presidential families, which are part of the exhibition, inscribe women into the
national history of Yemen, and highlight how the public appearances of women shaped the
identity politics of the nation state.
Yasemin Karakasoglu’s paper addressed the debate on the issue of veiling in Germany. For
many Muslim migrants predominantly of Turkish origin, Islam proves to be an relevant aspect
for identity formation, although the younger generation is usually less religious than the older
ones. The veil is thus an important identity marker for some young Muslims girls, while in
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media reports and political discussions on integration and it servers as marker for
backwardness, unequal gender relations and ‘Otherness’. The issue of veiling in schools,
both for pupils and female teachers, is frequently in the center of the debate on citizenship
rights for the Muslim migrant community.
At the visit to the Department for Intercultural Education at the University of Bremen, which
was part of the following partner meeting, Karakasoglu stressed the importance of a recent
quantitative and qualitative research undertaken by the department. It findings put many of
the images held on migrants, especially on the suffering of young Muslim girls through the
patriarchal Turkish communities, to a test, and provides a base for political decision-making.
Finding 2: Gender, Identity and Citizenship
All members of the research network subscribe to the theoretical framework that citizenship
is always gendered. There exists a broad variety of approaches, however, how this
framework is to be applied in the research on the legitimization of gendered citizenship rights
in different states, and the respective strategies for egalitarian rights. There exists a need for
a comparative perspective for analyzing how structural and legal differences are embedded
in the political, cultural and religious discourses of the distinct states, and how they shape
policies of the states and the strategies of civil society actors.
The issue of identity politics for the emergence of the nation state and citizenship has rarely
been addressed in research on Yemen, especially in the Northern-Yemeni context.
Amatalrauf Alsharki (CDFP Sana'a) and Bilqis Abu Osboa (Sana'a) agreed on joint research
on citizenship exploring how the images of women as wives and mothers, or women
confined to the private, non-political sphere influences the image of women as citizens.
Identity formation and images of identity are also a key issue of the debate on migration and
integration in the European, especially the German context and should be integrated in the
research, hereby the cooperation with the University of Bremen is an important asset
Constanze Weth’s lecture addressed the writing practices of children with a Moroccan
migrant background in southern France based on extensive ethnographic survey and an
orthographic study in schools and in the families. Children have to acquire French as national
language as a prerequisite of educational success, while the spoken Moroccan Arabic
preserver the linguistic family tradition. The reading and writing practices in Arabic taught at
schools, however, differs to the spoken Arabic, and thus, literate practices have different
forms and functions. While Moroccan Arabic usually is the first spoken language, French is
the dominant language in terms of their literate abilities.
Finding 3: Gender, Language, and Migration
Drawing on the common research interests of gendered language use, language
acquirement and literacy in by Fatima Sadiqi, (Fes), Constanze Weth (Osnabrueck) and
Sabria Al-Thawr (Sana'a), the discussion centered on the limited research on language and
migration — both in communities, which have migrated and for those, which see migration as
an option to improve living conditions — and the impact of socio-economic factors. The
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partners expressed interest in continuing their discussion and exploring the possibility of joint
research.
Sunday, May 28, First Session: Research Day contd.
Early Marriage in Yemen
Husnia Al-Kadri, Bilqis Abu Osboa & Antlak Al-Mutawakel, Gender Development Research
and Studies Center, University of Sana'a
Cross Border Migration and Trafficking: Processes and Regimes Formation. Status of
Somali's Migrants in Yemen
Rukhsana Ismail, Woman's Research & Training Centre, University of Aden
Transmigration and Gender in Yemen
Rukhsana Ismail, Woman's Research & Training Centre, University of Aden
Gender, Citizenship and Political Participation of Yemeni Women during the Colonial Regime
— A Historical Approach
Asmahan Aklaan Alaas, Woman's Research & Training Centre, University of Aden
Gender, Citizenship and Political Participation of Yemeni Women in the Former PDRY, 19671990
Radyah Shamsher Ali, Woman's Research & Training Centre, University of Aden
Gender and Citizenship
Fatima Sadiqi, Center for Studies and Research on Women, University of Fes
Fragmented Citizenship: Communalism, Ethnicity and Gender in Iraq (presented Tuesday)
Martina Kamp, CvO University of Oldenburg
Gender, Citizenship and Transnational Migration (Friday seminar)
Lydia Potts, CvO University of Oldenburg
Overview on a Women’s Shelter in Aden for Female Former Prisoners on zina-Cases
(presented Wednesday)
Radyah Shamsher Ali, Woman's Research & Training Centre, University of Aden
The second part of the research presentation covered the current studies by the centers or
by its members in the fields of violence and citizenship. The aims of the session were to
introduce the partners to the research frameworks and methods used by the partners, to
draw out chapters for the book on gender and violence, and to identify, as already in the
session before, key issues for the article on citizenship.
The first paper focused on the study for campaign against early marriage in Yemen planned
by Oxfam, the Gender Development Research and Studies Center at University of Sana'a,
the Women National Committee, the national women’s organization, and several formal and
informal partners. The high level of early marriage in Yemen, the highest in regional
comparison, corresponds with high female illiteracy, high health risks for women, low
participation of women in the formal labor market and in political and private decision making,
and discriminatory laws and practices. The quantitative and qualitative empirical study
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carried out for the campaign stressed the impact of poverty and the social norms resulting
from highly hierarchical gender relations as main reasons for early marriage of girls, e.g. that
marriage is a prerequisite for the identity of women as wives and mothers, unmarried girls
pose a threat to morals and social norms, endogamous marriage patterns within kin groups,
lack of reproductive health knowledge etc. The campaign addresses the national level by the
demand to implement a minimum marriage age and targets the population via media,
community campaigning, and the link to other development programs.
Finding 4: Gender and (Structural) Violence
One rather interesting result was the shared research interest of the centers at the
Universities of Aden and Sana'a, even if they had not embarked on joint studies, but agreed
upon starting a debate and sharing their findings. Both partners stressed the importance on
structural violence as a key issue for understanding violence in the MENA region and
proposed chapters on early marriage (Sana'a) and polygamy (Aden) based on a previous
study. Another chapter on violence against women or domestic violence was suggested by
Husnia Al-Kadri and is currently discussed in the centre at Sana'a. The project by a women’s
group in Aden, a women’s shelter for former female prisoners sentenced for zina reasons,
i.e. cases, where the female victims were accused of having defied sexual norms, is a case
study of women’s struggle against structural violence, and its documentation should be a
further chapter of the book. The partners also expressed interest in a comparative study on
women’s shelters.
On behalf of the Woman's Research and Training Centre at the University of Aden,
Rukhsanan Ismail presented two studies on migration carried out in cooperation with the
WRTC. The first paper addressed migration processes and regimes on the theoretical and
methodological level taking into account the changes of human trafficking/migration in the
last two decades in the last 25 years, such as the younger age, the unmarried status of the
migration persons, the diversification of recruiting methods, forms of work and economic
sectors etc. While the norms regulating migration are based on the need of the market, the
protection of trafficked persons, though regulated by an UN protocol, is still not implemented
in many countries. The study asks for using the ‘individual’ as a unit of analysis. This is the
starting point for the second study on transnational families and transnational migrants
in/from Basateen at the outskirts of Aden, where the government has allocated land to
Yemeni returnees from Somalia. Many families have relatives in European countries, to
which they maintain close contact, and migration, e.g. through marriage, is seen as the
ultimate way to improve life, which results in a high percentage of transnational families in
Basateen.
Gender and citizenship is one of the key issues of the research project, it is also a central
topic of research in Aden, Oldenburg and Fes, and the keynote address already gave a vivid
demonstration of the interconnection of women’s movements, the political forces and images
of gender, state and religion for acquiring egalitarian citizenship rights. Some of the
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presentations outlined below were postponed to the partner meeting following the workshop
due to temporal constraints and as the partners agreed to allocate more time for mutual
debate at the workshop.
The impact of colonial history on gendered citizenship was stressed by Asmahan Aklaan
Alaas (Aden) for the former British colony of Aden. The Anglo-Mohammedan Law installed
by the British administration was drawn from the British-Indian legal system and resulted in a
system of different set of laws applied in two spheres: the changes undertaken in the realm
of public law and the maintenance of customary law ('urf) in the private sphere, which
included the body of law regarding marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance. Thus,
citizenship rights of women were not only restricted by colonial rule itself, but also by the set
of traditions still in practice. As in other colonial contexts, women’s rights were promoted by
men stressing their importance for the modern identity of the nation, namely the nationalist
movement, who stressed the importance of education. The women’s movement, also taking
part in the national uprisings stressed not only on educational opportunities for women, but
also fought for equal rights.
Radyah Shamsher Ali focused on state feminism in the former PDRY implemented through
laws and law enforcement by the state. These policies, however, were also carried out in
close cooperation with the National Women’s Union, in large parts the successor of the
former colonial women’s movement. The union focused on disseminating awareness of
women’s rights in rural areas and making women’s politics an issue of national interest,
which resulted in one of the most progressive Personal Status Laws in the MENA region. In
spite of many obstacles such as the conservative interpretation concerning women’s rights in
Muslim law and the high rate of illiteracy, the states policy on equal rights achieved
impressive results especially among the younger and urban population. The Women’s
Union’s role in society was enhanced by the implementation of CEDAW, when women
committees in ministries, institutions and enterprises monitored policies. The relative strength
of the organized women’s movement, however, was accompanied by the low membership of
women in the ruling party. Thus political representation of women was mainly channeled
through the Women’s Union. During the reunification of both Yemeni states and especially
after the end of the civil war in the mid-1990s women’s rights were curbed, and the Women’s
Union lost most of its influence in the political arena. The under-representation of women in
parliament and civil society institutions has since then increased.
Also taking an historical approach on gendered citizenship in Iraq, Martina Kamp suggested
a framework for citizenship bargains, which takes gender, class, and ethnicity or religious
affiliation into account. Citizenships rights are negotiated in the context of communal rights
rather than between the individual and the state, and thus, women’s rights are a field of
contest and compromise for power struggles between the state and society. These statesociety-relations are by no means static, but are constantly re-negotiated.
Lydia Pott’s research on transnational migration relates to another field of citizenship
research, whereby the concept of citizenship itself is put into question. The exclusion or
partiality of citizenship rights are part of all migration regimes, however, are rarely put into
question in research on gender and citizenship, which focuses on national policies. A
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different strategy to overcome the restrictions of gendered and national citizenship could be
to shift the focus on post-national or transnational citizenship rights.
Finding 5: Gender and Citizenship
The debate on citizenship highlighted the different historical experiences of the Yemeni
partners, and underlined the importance of a theoretical framework for reflecting citizenship
that takes differences in categories of social structures into account, such as gender, class,
ethnicity, nationality etc. The debate on the theoretical framework will be carried on by Fes
and Oldenburg and should make up the introduction for the research article on citizenship,
while each partner center should contribute a case study either on their countries (Germany,
Morocco, Yemen), or on their field of expertise (transnational migration, Iraq).
Sunday, May 28, Second Session: Curriculum Day
PhD Gender Studies Unit at the University of Fes
Joint MA Migration and Intercultural Relations (since Oct. 2006) at the CvO University of
Oldenburg
Diploma Course Gender at the University of Sana’a
Diploma Course Gender (starting December 2006) at Aden University
Joint MA Gender and Politics (starting Oct. 2007) at the CvO University of Oldenburg
Module on Gender Relations in the MENA region (yet to be implemented)
The first part of the curriculum development session was dedicated to the reports on
partners’ current curricula in women's and gender studies and ongoing curriculum
development. The discussion on a joint curriculum and the plans for developing a joint
summer school will be continued next year at a workshop.
Currently, there exists a two-year PhD program at the University of Fes, which is already in
its third cycle. The syllabus covers issues such as language and culture; migration,
performance and communication from a gendered perspective and also includes research
methodologies. Surprising for the other partners was the high participation, 50%, of men both
as students and in the teaching personnel. Sana'a offers a diploma course, the prerequisite
for entering an MA course, and there are plans for an MA Politics and Gender, which is a
cooperation of the University of Oldenburg, the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg,
South Africa, and the center in Sana’a. This MA program was presented by Lydia Potts, who
also gave an overview on the MA Migration and Intercultural Relations. Using an
interdisciplinary approach for the study of global migration in the 21st century, the program
introduces students to a broad range of theories, methodologies and research frameworks
for analyzing transnational migration.
The diploma course at Aden University will start in the 2006/07 term and consists of ten
modules, which cover issues such as women’s movements, economics, law and shari’a,
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reproductive health, and also training in English, statistics and project management. The
modules of the AK Gender are a set of courses for humanities and social sciences, one for
BA- and one for MA-level. The modules present an overview of gender relations in the MENA
region and introduce students to theoretical frameworks, concepts and research
methodologies. With the exception of Aden and the module, which has not yet been put into
practice, all courses are or will be taught in English.
Finding 6: Curriculum Development
The partners agreed on the distribution of their curricula, a process currently being in
preparation by the centers and the working group. The next step would then be the planning
of a workshop for the summer school held in 2007.
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