Female Empowerment and Gender equality: Understanding the increasing importance of female empowerment and gender equality in the Arab Gulf region

Abstract This thesis explores the connection between the two driving forces behind the phenomena women’s empowerment and gender equality in the Arab Gulf region. These driving forces are (1) international (Western) standards (top-down approach) and (2) efforts by Arab women themselves (bottom-up approach). The social change, which has taken place in the recent years, has created new spaces and visibility for Arab Gulf women. However, it is argued with a postcolonial feminist theoretical framework that international development standards and Western liberal & Orientalist narratives often overshadow Arab Muslim women’s agency in their liberation by portraying them as oppressed and silent. As such, the existence and role of Islamic feminism is analysed to challenge these Western liberal & Orientalist narratives. This study employs various case studies as its qualitative research method, which are spread between two analytical chapters which provide a critical discourse analysis of the...Show moreAbstract This thesis explores the connection between the two driving forces behind the phenomena women’s empowerment and gender equality in the Arab Gulf region. These driving forces are (1) international (Western) standards (top-down approach) and (2) efforts by Arab women themselves (bottom-up approach). The social change, which has taken place in the recent years, has created new spaces and visibility for Arab Gulf women. However, it is argued with a postcolonial feminist theoretical framework that international development standards and Western liberal & Orientalist narratives often overshadow Arab Muslim women’s agency in their liberation by portraying them as oppressed and silent. As such, the existence and role of Islamic feminism is analysed to challenge these Western liberal & Orientalist narratives. This study employs various case studies as its qualitative research method, which are spread between two analytical chapters which provide a critical discourse analysis of the two approaches outlined above. Analysis of the top-down approach discusses the existing international framework of female empowerment and gender equality and relates it to the UAE as regional case study. Analysis of the bottom-up approach discusses the case of Saudi Muslim women’s rights activist Manal al-Sharif to challenge both the national patriarchal and Western neoliberal narratives, which belittle women’s agency in their own increasing empowerment. Ultimately, this thesis will focus on a how female empowerment as a regional phenomenon can be analysed within a global context.Show less

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Female Empowerment and Gender equality: Understanding the increasing importance of female empowerment and gender equality in the Arab Gulf region