Casa Árabe

One of the most deeply-rooted presumptions in the West is the immutable character of the patriarchal paradigm in social structure within the Arab countries, as well as their supposed demographic explosion and woman vulnerability or submissiveness  in the bosom of the family. All of which is interpreted under the premises of a supposed religious determinism which prevents them from evolving.

This collective work, co-edited by Casa Árabe and Edicions Bellaterra and coordinated by Sophie Bessis and Gema Martín Muñoz, two of the most reputed sociologists and researchers on the female condition within the Arab world of both shores of the Mediterranean, highlights the end of the validity of this subject in the various Arab states, where deep transformations that are modifying the traditional and patriarchal paradigms are being carried out, at quite different paces.

Urban development, female education, demographic deceleration, successful family planning and women inclusion in the public and labour sphere are imposing deep changes on the delay of marriage age, on the modernization of the family structure and the relationships between both sexes. All of which entails a broader female autonomy outside as well as inside the house, and a very significant step towards their emancipation. With the support of sciences such as demography, statistics and polls, this work depicts a revolutionary transformation phenomenon in the Arab social and family sphere which, not having achieved yet its peak level, implies nowadays an irreversible dynamic.

The work includes texts by Sophie Bessis, Gema Martín Muñoz, Mohamed Al Dbiyat, Soraya Altorki, Houria Alami Mchichi, Penny Johnson, Thérèse Locoh, Dorra Mahfoudh Draoui, Zahia Ouadah-Bedidi, Nouredine Saadi and Alberto Veira Ramos.