States and Women's Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco

363 Pages·2001·2.55 MB·English

by  Mounira Charrad

States and Women’s Rights

States and Women’s
Rights
The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia,
Algeria, and Morocco
mounira m. charrad
University of California Press
berkeley los angeles london
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2001 by the Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Charrad, M. (Mounira)
States and women’s rights : the making of postcolonial Tunisia,
Algeria, and Morocco / Mounira M. Charrad.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-520-90052-9
1. Women’s rights—Africa, North—History. 2. Muslim
women—Government policy—Africa, North—History. 3. Domestic
relations (Islamic law)—Africa, North—History. 4. Tribes—Africa,
North—History. 5. Africa, North—Politics and government.
I. Title.
HQ1236 .5 .A355 C43 2001
323 .3'4'0961—dc21 00-051172
Manufactured in the United States of America
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsof
ANSI/NISO Z39 0.48-1992(R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).
To M., A., A., E., and M.

Contents
ListofMapsandTables ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
NoteonForeignTermsandTransliteration xvii
Introduction 1
part 1. similarities: common heritage of the maghrib
15
1. State Formation in Kin-Based Societies 17
States,Nations,andLocalSolidarities 18
Central/LocalTensionintheHistory
oftheMaghrib 21
The“RepublicsofCousins”inPolitics 23
2. Islam and Family Law: An Unorthodox View 28
TheLawinIslam 29
IslamicFamilyLaw 31
CustomaryLaw 45
3. Women Ally with the Devil: Gender, Unity,
and Division 51
MenasUnity 53
WomenasDivision 55
MarriageAlliances:IdeologyandReality 57
VeilsandWalls 61
4. Men Work with Angels: Power of the Tribe 68
TiesThatBind:TribalSolidarity 70
Tribes,IslamicUnity,andMarkets 77
TribesandCentralAuthority 80
viii / Contents
part 2. historical differences
85
5. The Precolonial Polity: National Variations 87
Tunisia:EarlyDevelopmentofCentralized
Institutions 89
Algeria:TribalIsolationandWeakState 98
Morocco:LandofGovernmentVersusLandof
Dissidence 103
FamilyLawasMirrorofthePolity 109
6. Colonial Rule: French Strategies 114
FormofColonialDomination 115
ColonialManipulationofFamilyLaw 131
part 3. three paths to nation-state and family law
145
7. Palace, Tribe, and Preservation of Islamic Law:
Morocco 147
CoalitionbetweenPalaceandTribe(1940s–50s) 148
IslamicFamilyLawPreserved:Choiceofthe
Monarchy(1950s) 158
8. Elite Divisions and the Law in Gridlock: Algeria 169
PartialRelianceonKin-BasedGroups
(1950s–60s) 170
FamilyLawHeldHostagetoPoliticalDivisions
(1950s–80s) 183
9. State Autonomy from Tribe and Family Law
Reform: Tunisia 201
StateAutonomyfromTribes(1930s–50s) 202
TheTransformationofFamilyLaw(1930s–50s) 215
Conclusion. State-Building, Family Law, and
Women’s Rights 233
History,Strategy,andPolicy 234
SomeTheoreticalImplications 238
Glossary 243
Notes 247
SelectedBibliography 301
AuthorIndex 319
SubjectIndex 327