Ever since the uprisings that swept the Arab world, the role of Arab women in political transformations received unprecedented media attention. The copious commentary, however, has yet to result in any serious study of the gender dynamics of political upheaval.Rethinking Gender in Revolutions and Resistance is the first book to analyse the interplay between moments of sociopolitical transformation, emerging subjectivities and the different modes of women's agency in forging new gender norms in the Arab world. Written by scholars and activists from the countries affected, including Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, this is an important addition to Middle Eastern gender studies.

How political turmoil and dissent are re-shaping gender roles in the Arab world.

Introduction: Rethinking Gender in Revolutions and Resistance in the Arab World - Maha El Said, Lena Meari and Nicola PrattPart 1 The Malleability of Gender and Sexuality in Revolutions and Resistance1. Reconstructing Gender in Post-revolutionary Egypt - Shereen Abouelnaga2. Re-signifying 'Sexual' Colonial Power Techniques: The Experiences of Palestinian Women Political Prisoners - Lena Meari3. A Strategic Use of Culture: Egyptian Women's Subversion and Resignification of Gender Norms - Hala G. SamiPart 2 The Body and Resistance4. She Resists: Body Politics Between Radical and Subaltern - Maha El-Said5. Framing the Female Body: Beyond Morality and Pathology? - Abeer Al-Najjar and Anoud Abusalim6. Women's Bodies in Post-Revolution Libya: Control and Resistance - Sahar Mediha Elnaas and Nicola PrattPart 3 Gender and the Construction of the Secular/Islamist Binary7. Islamic Feminism and the Equivocation of Political Engagement: 'Fair is Foul, and Foul is Fair' - Omaima Abou-Bakr8. Islamic and Secular Women's Activism and Discourses in Post-uprising Tunisia - Aitemad MuhannaConclusion: Towards New Epistemologies and Ontologies of Gender and Socio-Political Transformation in the Arab World - Maha El Said, Lena Meari and Nicola Pratt