Tunisia at the Forefront of the Arab World: Two Waves of Gender Legislation

Starting in the 1950s and ever since, Tunisia has implemented gender legislation expanding women\u27s rights in family law. The ground breaking phase occurred with the promulgation of the Code of Personal Status in the mid-1950s during the formation of a national state in the aftermath of independence from French colonial rule. Another major phase occurred in the 1990s with citizenship law reforms as embodied in the Tunisian Code of Nationality. As a result of these two major phases, Tunisia has been at the fore front of woman friendly legislative changes in the Arab- Muslim world and is widely recognized as such. At a time when issues of women\u27s rights are not only highly debated, but sometimes violently contested in Muslim countries, the Tunisian case requires examination. This Article documents the two major phases of reforms in favor of women\u27s rights in Tunisia and outlines the conditions that permitted or encouraged the continuity over the last half century. The first wave of reforms in the 1950s transformed the legal construction of gender roles within the family. The second wave in the 1990s redefined the conditions for the transmission of Tunisian citizenship. In painting social change in broad strokes, I analyze the initial and pioneering phase of the 1950s as a reform resulting from the actions of a newly formed national state interested in building a new society at the end of colonial rule. By contrast, the role of women\u27s agency came into play in Tunisia starting in the 1980s and became more robust in the 1990s. The evidence suggests that different political configurations can be conducive to reform in different periods

States and women's rights: the making of postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco

At a time when the situation of women in the Islamic world is of global interest, here is a study that unlocks the mystery of why women's fates vary so greatly from one country to another. Mounira M. Charrad analyzes the distinctive nature of Islamic legal codes by placing them in the larger context of state power in various societies. Charrad argues that many analysts miss what is going on in Islamic societies because they fail to recognize the logic of the kin-based model of social and political life, which she contrasts with the Western class-centered model. In a skillful synthesis, she shows how the logic of Islamic legal codes and kin-based political power affect the position of women. These provide the key to Charrad's empirical puzzle: why, after colonial rule, women in Tunisia gained broad legal rights (even in the absence of a feminist protest movement) while, despite similarities in culture and religion, women remained subordinated in post-independence Morocco and Algeria. Charrad's elegant theory, crisp writing, and solid scholarship make a unique contribution in developing a state-building paradigm to discuss women's rights.This book will interest readers in the fields of sociology, politics, law, women's studies, postcolonial studies, Middle Eastern studies, Middle Eastern history, French history, and Maghrib studies

Panel Four: Gender Legislation and Social Context

Panel Chair: Frank Vogel Mounira Maya Charrad Steady Reforms: Path Dependency Theory and Gender Legislation in Tunisia Adrien Wing The Future of Palestinian Women’s Rights: Lessons from a Half Century of Tunisian Progress Ruth Miller On the Limits of Bodily Integrity: Rape Legislation in Comparative Perspective Amira Sonbol Nationality and Citizenship: Women’s Fight for Basic Freedom