Gender and the Expansion of International Society in the Middle East

Gender and the Expansion of International Society in the Middle East

Khalid F. Al-Khater

This work was accepted as PhD thesis by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Zurich in the fall semester 2016 on the recommendation of Prof. Dr. Albert A. Stahel and Prof. Dr. Georg Kohler.

Bibliographic Information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

ISBN 978-3-7281-3869-9 (Print)
ISBN 978-3-7281-3871-2 (E-Book)
DOI 10.3218/3871-2

All rights reserved. Nothing from this publication may be reproduced, stored in computerised systems or published in any form or in any manner, including electronic, mechanical, reprographic or photographic, without prior written permission from the publisher.

Cover image: www.mohamedfaris.com

© 2017, vdf Hochschulverlag AG an der ETH Zürich

Contents

1

Abstract

Gender politics is the most visible marker of conflict over identity within the Middle East, and it also lies at the core of cultural conflicts in the relationship between the Muslim world and the ‘West’. This dissertation poses the main question: Why is gender such a divisive issue between the West and the Middle East? To answer this question, I develop a theoretical framework and discuss four case studies.

The theoretical framework consists of a discussion of the main approaches in international relations that perpetuate the liberal world order in different ways: Realism through state-centric projects, Kantianism through the spread of culture, and international society through the norms of the ‘club of international society of states’ that aims to homogenize states.

In all three approaches the gender project serves as a means of discourse and an instrument to justify, expand, or consolidate the liberal order. Furthermore, the ummah approach introduced in this thesis provides a critical way to understanding the politics of the Middle East. This is discussed in Part 1 of the dissertation.

Part 2 presents the case studies. The cases of gender politics in the United Nations (Grotian), gender politics in Afghanistan (Hobbesian), and gender politics in Tunisia (Kantian) reflect the three main approaches. Gender politics in Egypt reflects the critical ummah approach. This dissertation argues that gender politics should be understood in the context of sociohistorical changes and the ongoing dialectic process between the liberal project and the expression of the ummah rather than through simplified mainstream perceptions of development and the need for liberating the oppressed Middle Eastern women.

The three main arguments emerging from the above discussion of the main question are as follows: First, gender discourse is a top-down project. Second, gender is embedded within layers of imperialism. Third, gender must be understood within the dynamics of the dialectic process between the ummah and the liberal order.

2

Acknowledgments

This work is dedicated to those who made it possible:

 

To my late mother and to my father.

To my wife for her unwavering support, and to my children.

To all those who helped me along the way .

 

A special word of appreciation goes to Prof. Dr. Albert Stahel, whom I was blessed to have come to know. He is a man of high character, honorable standing, high intellect, someone for whom I have the highest respect. His retirement marks the end of an era that I was lucky enough to have been part of. I thank him for his patience, encouragement, and guidance.

I

Theoretical Approaches to Studying Gender Politics in the Middle East

Part 1 introduces the theoretical framework of the study. The main question of this study is why the issue of gender politics became a key divisive issue in the relationship between the West and the Middle East. The four chapters therein aim to provide a theoretical answer to this question. The three mainstream approaches (Hobbesian, Kantian, and Grotian) are discussed and analyzed in order to provide a context for understanding how they contribute to establishing the liberal project in the Middle East, with culture being the common strategic purpose cementing the hegemony of the liberal matrix vis-à-vis the ummah. Using a critical approach, I introduce the ummah approach to provide clarity about how the three mainstream IR approaches form a cultural closure with a Matrix-like effect in which other projects of hegemony are embedded, with gender being the agency. This provides context for examining the three case studies in Part 2.