WUNRN
UNRISD - UN Research Institute for
Social Development
Open Democracy Articles Link: http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/kristine-goulding/tunisia-womens-winter-of-discontent
ARAB SPRING, ISLAMIST
SUMMER....FEMINIST FALL?
25
Oct 2011 - Author: Kristine
Goulding - goulding@ unrisd.org
Nine
months after the overthrow of the former president, Tunisia has voted in the
first open and fair election in the region. The Islamist party al-Nahda has
claimed victory by a fairly large margin, assuring the party a strong say in
future political processes. What will this victory mean for Tunisia’s
historical legacy of women’s rights?
In a
three-part article published on openDemocracy, UNRISD
Research Analyst Kristine Goulding examines the transformation of gender
relations from the Arab Spring, throughout the Islamist summer, and into the
feminist fall.
Goulding
warns against framing Islamism in direct opposition to women's rights. Instead,
the Arab Spring should be seen as an opportunity to redefine the roles of both
women and the Islamist party al-Nahda: the two cannot be seen as mutually
exclusive. In the final part of the article, Goulding argues that if a
"feminist fall" does not come to fruition, it will not be only
because of an Islamist agenda or the failures of the interim government and its
policies. The failure will come from the citizens of Tunisia, who have shown
democratically that feminism is not decisively on their agenda.