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women and democracy
Tebaa 11th volume
The New woman foundation issues a number of publications
among them is “Tebaa” magazine. Tebaa is a feminist,
non-periodical, theoretical magazine issued by NWF. At present,
the foundation has issued eleven volumes of Tebaa, the eleventh
volume entitled “women and democracy”, tackles the relationship
between democracy and women’s rights. The volume’s articles
adopt the idea that democracy is the basis for eliminating
discrimination against women and gaining their political, social
and cultural rights.
The volume includes several articles, among them an article
titled “women and the matter of democracy” in which the writer
argues that when democracy is limited to the political , in the
form of changing governing authorities, without paying attention
to the seriousness of the patriarchal rule in the social and
cultural structures on different levels, it is lacking and
dangerous In the article titled “meditations around democracy
from woman’s view” the writer stresses the idea of “widening”
the concept of democracy to include the social and cultural
structures of the society; she also adds an important dimension
related to the women’s capacity through their experiences ,
which is characterized by being exposed to pain and suffering ,
which serves to enrich the meanings of democracy and exposes the
dangers of limiting its achievement to only the political.
Moreover, the volume also involves two case studies entitled
“how the change was done?” and “elements to approach the
development witnessed by Moroccan women’s position.” In those
case studies the writers present an analysis for the effect of
Moroccan women’s success in developing a personal status code
which was discussed in the Moroccan parliament and had a
positive effect, resulting in informative discussions around the
amendment of the personal status law. The translations and
abstracts included in the volume present more case studies that
shed light on the mutual influence of women’s access to their
social and political rights.
The volume ends with an interesting abstract about the book
“remediating Islam and liberal democracy: Moslem women in
Turkish policy”; the book present an analytical reading of
Moslem women participation in Turkish policy-making by joining
the Moslem party “rafaa” which enjoys wide scale popularity in
Turkey. The importance of this book emerges from exposing a few
issues of critical importance for the Arab societies, which
includes the political conflict between the pattern of secular
government and the Islamic one. This book also includes case
studies which leave the reader to form his/her opinion on the
women’s stories which are narrated through personal experiences.
This abstract uncovers the strategies followed by the female
members of the “rafaa” party to recruit more women into the
party.
Thus, this volume of “Tebaa” presents a sufficient view around
the matter of “women and democracy” from different angles and
does not promote a particular understanding of women and their
place in democracy.
Other Links
Identity and feminism - Tebaa 1st volume