Gendered Politics and Law in Jordan - Guardianship over Women

This book analyzes how the state constructs and reproduces gender identities in the context and geopolitics of Jordan. Guardianship over women is examined as not only the basis of women's legal and social subordination, but also a key factor in the construction and reproduction of a gender hierarchy system. Afaf Jabiri probes how a masculine state gives power and legitimacy through guardianship to institutions-including family, religion, and tribe-in managing, producing, and constructing gender identity. Does the masculine institution succeed in imposing a dominant form of femininity? Or are there ways by which women escape and resist the social and legal construction of femininity? Based on over 60 case studies of contemporary women in Jordan, the book additionally examines how the resultant strategies and tactics developed by women in Jordan are influenced by and affect their status within the guardianship system.

Afaf Jabiri is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Gender Studies in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, UK. She contributed to the teaching of courses on Gender and Islam and Gender in the Middle East at SOAS as well as at the University of Roehampton and University of Leicester, UK. For the last 20 years, she has been advocating for gender equality, law, and policy reform in the Middle East.