This empirical study explores the relationship between authoritarianism and women empowerment. In academia relatively little attention has been paid to the correlation between gender studies,...Show moreThis empirical study explores the relationship between authoritarianism and women empowerment. In academia relatively little attention has been paid to the correlation between gender studies, particularly women’s rights, and authoritarianism. Recently however, literature in this field of study is expanding as more researchers start questioning the motivations and determinants of gender inclusion in authoritarian regimes. The objective of this research is to explore the Saudi regimes rational, behind one the hand advancing a state-feminist agenda which empowers women in different spheres of life, while at the other hand it is repressing the same group it claims to support. Based on Gerschewski’s Three Pillars of Stability theory, this study makes the premise that there is a correlation between women’s empowerment policies and the notion of regime survival. Gerschewski’s theory offers three pillars which are employed by autocratic regimes to remain in power: legitimation, co-optation, and repression.Show less
