Contesting Realities: The Public Sphere and Morality in Southern Yemen

Acknowledgments

xiii Acknowledgments During the course of writing this book, I have received assistance from a number of people and institutions. To start with, I am indebted and grateful to all Adeni people, who allowed me to enter their lives to make my inquiries. In my initial stay in Aden in 1988–89, the General Union of Yemeni Women and in particular the legendary Radhia Shamshir kindly assisted me in starting my fieldwork and provided me with a letter of recommendation that I needed to enter workplaces, government offices, factories, and institutions. I also received a substantial amount of support from the union’s Aden Branch and its several clubs around town. I am particularly grateful to Khawla Sharaf, a longtime activist and leader of women’s activities in Aden. I greatly admire both Radhia and Khawla and dedicate this study to their courageous fight. After Yemeni unification in 1990, when the national capital moved to Sana’a, I needed to obtain a research permit to carry out my studies in Aden. I am thankful to the Yemeni Centre for Studies and Research in Sana’a, especially its director, Dr. Nasir ‘Uthman, and its deputy director, Muhammad alMaitami , who kindly issued me with all the permits I needed, including travel permits to Aden. I am grateful to Dr. François Burgat and Dr. Jean Lambert, directors of the Centre Français d’Archéologie et de Sciences Sociales de Sana’a for facilitating my travel to Yemen and opening the center for me. While in Sana’a, I was taken good care of in Bayt al-Ajami and given the chance to participate in all the center’s activities, including using its excellent library. I am also grateful to Dr. Marta Colburn, director of the American Institute for Yemeni Studies, for assisting me and allowing me to use the institute’s equally excellent library in Sana’a. While I was in Aden, so many people helped me that I cannot possibly mention them all here. Dr. Murshid Shamsan Ahmad, director of the Yemeni Studies xiv | Acknowledgments Centre in Aden, welcomed me to the center, including its seminars, and gave me all possible help. My cooperation with Dr. Rokhsana Isma’il, director of Women’s Research and Training Center at Aden University, has been extremely useful and allowed me to participate in all the center’s activities. Throughout the years from 1988 to 2001, I was allowed to attend court sessions in the Aden Divisional Court and am grateful to everybody who made that possible. During my time in Aden, many people always supported me, even at the stage when they did not yet know me well. I was lucky to have enjoyed an extensive amount of cordiality, hospitality, and friendship, for which I am humbly grateful. In order to stretch my sincere thanks to all of them, I dedicate this book to them all. In particular, I spent the best moments with my friends Munira, Faruq, Muhammad F., Faiza, Ma’isa, Muhammad S., Nadhira, Muna, and Su‘ad. Several people also assisted me in doing interviews and visiting places, and I thank in particular Nahla, Ahmad, Huda, Muna N., Samira, Ma’isa, Muna, and Gamila. Several Adeni scholars generously helped me, among them Dr. Ja‘far al-Zafari and Dr. Asmahan ‘Aklan al-‘Alas, to whom I remain eternally grateful. I started my postgraduate studies in 1994 with an Erasmus Grant in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. I am grateful to Dr. Iris Jean-Klein for supervising me while I was outlining my dissertation. I learned a great deal of anthropology in the inspiring atmosphere of this distinguished department as I attended courses and participated in postgraduate seminars convened by Professor Anthony P. Cohen and Dr. Jonathan Spencer. After returning to Helsinki and staying at home for two years following the birth of my son, Chang, I resumed my studies in the Department of Cultural Anthropology at the University of Helsinki. I am particularly grateful to Professor Sondra Hale of the University of California and Professor Jukka Siikala of the University of Helsinki for their mindful and critical comments on my dissertation , on which this book is based. During the course of my studies, I have had the chance to participate in two important Finnish research projects. I could not have started my Ph.D. studies without the encouragement and mentorship of Professor Ulla Vuorela, first supervisor for my Ph.D. dissertation. Her research project “Gender and...