Women and Globalization in the Arab Middle East: Gender, Economy and Society (review)

Women in the Middle East suffer the negative impact of their states' macroeconomic policies. Through implementing structural adjustment programs (SAPs) and instituting social and political reform, global integration has brought to women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) a sweet yet sour experience. Women and Globalization in the Arab Middle East takes the reader through a mental tour of the transitions that women have experienced in the region. It presents "gendered analyses of the economic impact of globalization in the Arab Middle East, including its political, social, and cultural entailments" (3).

The book is a compilation of essays with many recurring themes about women in the developing world, such as types of employment available to women, land ownership and rural issues, fertility and maternal mortality, etc. There are also the themes that are particular to the Islamic world. Several authors discuss women's social and economic conditions in the Islamic context. Moreover, this book brings to the forefront emerging issues currently debated in the MENA, such as women's education, violence, sex segregation, citizenship, and women's political participation.

In the introduction, Doumato and Posusney draw a sociological overview of gender and globalization in the modern Middle East. They define globalization as "economic processes associated with the near-universal triumph of the capitalist model of development after the collapse of the Soviet Union" (3). Although this definition reflects the "push" effect of a global "spread of a culture that is decidedly American" (3), it would have been interesting if the authors had captured the demands for this American culture in the Middle Eastern region. These demands have created the "pull" effect and have reinforced extreme polarity between Westernization and Islamization. The definition that the authors offer for gender ideologies reflects the focus of the following essays. They see gender ideologies as "socially ascribed attributes assigned to sex difference that shape public opinion and drive social policies regarding women" (8). In this definition, they posit that certain ideologies regarding women are prevalent across various classes, religions, and states. Although they question the causes, they do not offer explanations. I would argue that gender bias in the MENA could be explained in the context of kinship. However, as the authors attempt to set the cultural context, kinship is rarely mentioned. According to Charrad (2001), kinship structures constitute a significant element of the social, political, and cultural life in the MENA.

The first chapter divides the region into two intersecting categories: oil rich/poor and population rich/poor. The authors trace the economic options considered by MENA countries, based on these two categories, in adjusting to global integration and introducing political and welfare reforms. Chapter two surveys women's participation in the labor market. The authors use the Duncan's index of segregation (1995) to reach the conclusion that due to cultural factors, the MENA has the highest gender segregation, which continues to rise. The third chapter investigates "what factors may be facilitating or impeding fertility declines and how have economic conditions, gender norms and policies contributed to changes in fertility patterns?" (74). Olmsted's findings about the impact of gender differences and Islam are surprising. She concludes that studying "fertility patterns ought to be embedded in the greater structure of economy dependency" (90).

Chapter four (in the book's second section) is composed of a case study of SAPs in their gendered context in Egypt. Nassar argues that gender segmentation of the labor market is an outcome of several socioeconomic factors reflecting male biasness; these factors do not consider women's work inside the household as economically valuable. Chapter five also studies gender and employment in Egypt but through comparative lenses. The author compares women's unemployment rates and the types of professions available to women in Egypt to other MENA countries. Assaad emphasizes a point that is echoed elsewhere in the book—for many social reasons, the public sector constitutes the main...