Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Explanation of women inequalities in the middle east
Explanation of women inequalities in the middle east
How culture affects politics
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Explanation of women inequalities in the middle east
This article is an extension to Samuel Huntington’s "The Clash of Civilizations"(1) therefore it will be important to briefly brush on Huntington’s article. Huntington claims that culture is the divisive factor between “Western Christianity” and “Orthodox Christianity and Islam”. Huntington also argues that the Islamic world lacks the essential political values profound in Western civilization: rule of law, separation of state and religion, protection of individual rights and civil liberties and the fruits democracy bear.
The authors reside to the World Values Survey (WVS) conducted in 95-96 and 00-02 to test and discuss Huntington’s thesis. They also included that Huntington was half right; gender equality and sexual liberalization alongside culture are all to be considered the fault lines between the two civilizations. The importance of women in the labour force is echoed by quoting the UN Development programme, “no society can achieve the desired state of well-being and human development, or compete in a globalizing word, if half its people remain marginalized and disempowered.” The authors believe that because it is imperative to have gender equality and sexual liberalization so a society can achieve the desired state of well-being, the Muslim world will find this contradicting and conflicting to its values and principles and therefore democracy may not be sustainable.
Huntington claims that the virtues of Western democracies, those such as civil liberties and constitutionalism, are not profound in non-Western societies. Western efforts to promote such values are often met with violent criticism. Inglehart and Norris decided to put this theory to test by categorizing the countries in the WVS to nine major contemporary ...
... middle of paper ...
...
Works Cited
Samuel Huntington "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order" Simon & Schuster, 2011.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/1993-06-01/clash-civilizations
MICHAEL L. ROSS "Oil, Islam, and Women" University of California, Los Angeles. Web 6 July 2015.
http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPSR%2FPSR102_01%2FS0003055408080040a.pdf&code=9ff5d832f275ea1c892e95a86818a91c
Ronald Inglehart; Pippa Norris "The True Clash of Civilizations" Foreign Policy, No. 135. (Mar. - Apr., 2003), pp. 62-70.
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0015-7228%28200303%2F04%290%3A135%3C62%3ATTCOC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A
Hilāl, ʻAlī Al-Dīn. Islamic Resurgence in the Arab World. New York, NY: Praeger, 1982. Print.
Burns, Thomas J. "Islam." Religion and Society. OU Campus' Dale Hall, Norman. 14 Apr. 2014. Lecture.
The first is a rejection of the Clash thesis as fabricated myth for perpetuating Western dominance and justifying its aggrandizing policies. The other is of the Clash being inevitable due to the essentially and radically different ethos of Islam that makes it impossible to reconcile with the West. Sajjad (2013) thus added that Muslims needed to prepare for the approaching Clash. In his article, Sajjad (2013) interestingly shared some analysis from the non-Western world point of view on the flaw of Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations as
...enging Myths of Muslim Women: The Influence of Islam On Arab-American Women's Labor Force Activity. Muslim World, 92(1/2), 19. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
In conclusion, the body of evidence suggests that fears regarding the limitations placed on women by Islamic culture are exaggerated in most areas. Women have reached the highest political posts, most influential jobs in business, and obtained teaching posts at prestigious universities in almost every country with a significant Islamic culture. Some of the most tolerant cultures have even begun allowing female imams to lead prayer and teach other Muslims. While Islamic culture has plenty of work to do regarding the status of women, it must be recognized that a healthy portion of the criticism is unwarranted.
Kent, J. and Young, J.W. (2013), International Relations Since 1945: A global History. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lila Abu-Lughod’s article titled, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” takes a closer look at the problematic ethnocentric approach many have when trying to gain an understanding of another culture that may be foreign to that individual. In this analytical paper, Lughod looks at women in Islam, specifically the treatment of women and how it might be utilized as a justification for invading into a country and liberating its people. The country Lughod refers to in her article is Afghanistan, and Lughod points out the misunderstanding from the people to the Bush administration like First Lady Laura Bush who believed that intervention was necessary to free women from the captivity of their own homes. It is important to consider the role that different lenses play into all of this, especially when one’s lenses are being shaped by the media. Depictions of covered women secluded from society leave a permanent image in the minds of many, who would then later support the idea of liberation. This paper will discuss that the practice of using propaganda when referring to the lifestyle in the Middle East is not exclusive to the U.S; rather it has been utilized throughout history. Additionally, we will take a closer look on the importance of symbols, such as veils in this case; help to further emphasize the cause to liberate. Finally, we will analyze Lughod’s plea towards cultural relativism and away from liberal imperialism.
The Women of the Middle East have played substantial roles for their corresponding countries since the advent of colonialism in the region. Middle Eastern women have worked in all types of fields including medicine, education, agriculture, government, private sector, and even defense. They have kept roofs over their family’s heads while their husbands were away in wars, or even in foreign countries to work in jobs that they could not find in their own countries. The roles of women in the countries of Yemen and Oman are no exception, but while they still find ways to contribute to their country, they care constantly stereotyped, discriminated, and ridiculed by men who are known and unknown to them. This paper will discuss the individual contributions of the women living in Yemen and Oman, and will discuss in further state laws and cultural norms that are affecting the women living in these countries today.
Analysing The West: Unique, Not Universal. Throughout history, Western civilization has been an emerging force behind change in foreign societies. This is the concept that is discussed in the article, the West Unique, Not Universal, written by Samuel Huntington. The author makes a very clear thesis statement and uses a variety of evidence to support it. This article has a very convincing point.
The Web. The Web. 7 Feb. 2012. Krause, Wanda C. "Gender: Gender and Politics." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa.
Mingst, K. (2011). Essentials of international relations. (5th ed., p. 70-1). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company
Levy, Jack S. 1989 “Domestic Politics and War,” in Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb, eds., The Origin and Prevention of Major Wars, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
In 1992 within a lecture Samuel P. Huntington proposed a theory that suggests that people's cultural and religious identities will undoubtedly be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world, this theory is known as the Clash of Civilizations. Therefore this essay provides a criticism of this theory, whether I agree or disagree with it and also the aspects I like or dislike about the theory as a whole.
In this book , Esposito provides a succinct, up-to-date survey of the Islamic experience, an introduction to the faith, belief, and practice of Islam from its origins to its contemporary resurgence. He traces the emergence and development of this dynamic faith and its impact on world history and politics. He discusses the formation of Islamic belief and practice (law, theology, philosophy, and mysticism), chronicling the struggle of Muslims to define and adhere to their Islamic way of life. Equally important is the essential information Esposito provides on the contemporary world of Islam, from Muslim responses to the challenges of colonialism and modernization to the reassertion of Islam in politics and society.
Kenneth Jost. 2005. “Understanding Islam.” Annual Editions: Anthropology 11/12, 34th Edition. Elvio Angeloni. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.