Andrea Martinez, Professor of Feminist and Gender Studies at the University of Ottawa, has published her book "Femmes, printemps arabes et revendications citoyennes"(Women, Arab Springs and citizen claims) on April 2016 through IRD Editions.
Professor Martinez’s book deals with the effervescence of social and political mobilisations towards the Maghreb and the Middle East during the "Arab springs" as well as new forms of feminist demands that conquered the political scene. The ongoing struggle for female citizenship, which would establish equal rights between both genders, has seen significant advances, but continues to be subjected to serious setbacks.
Bringing together researchers and activists, this book offers a critical analysis of the fights for women's rights, from the aspirations of the textile workers to the demands of 7secular and Islamic feminists from Morocco to Iran via Algeria and Libya.
Women’s access to citizenship in the Middle East is very much a work in progress. The fight for equality and gender justice is played out both in public and private spaces, in legislative decisions and daily life, in women’s access to health care and work opportunities, decision-making and representation both within family and in wider society. This fight also includes the mobilizations carried out to change the legal framework and to curb all forms of violence, against women. In the wake of reforms and revolutions in the Arab world, this book brings a unique perspective in examining the situation of women in contemporary Arab-Muslim societies.