Description
Book SynopsisSaudi women are the most powerful symbol of their rapidly-changing country. The Western political and academic debate has presented activists such as Loujain Al Hathloul and Samar Badawi as the heroic voice of all Saudi women. The Saudi government has focused instead on a nationalistic rhetoric that presents Saudi women as willing, obedient, and heroic handmaids of the New Saudi Arabia who speak with the voice of the Enlightened Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Ironically, both approaches have silenced the people they are meant to empower, Saudi women. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the Eyes of Saudi Women argues that Saudi women cannot be empowered by the imposition from above of Western-inspired reforms and that the future of Saudi Arabia is firmly grounded in its past. Anita Butera provides a unique account of Saudi women’s voices and their dreams for the future of Saudi Arabia. The author concludes that MbS, by allowing the entrance of women into public space independently from men, has allowed Saudi women to start a silent revolution that is changing the patriarchal system of Saudi Arabia and challenging the masculine nature of Saudi power.
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
Preface – Feminizing Saudi Arabia
Acknowledgements
Part I
Part I Introduction- The Saudi Arabia That Is: Politics, Religion, and Oil
Chapter 1- The Warrior King and the Birth of Saudi Arabia: Turning Defeats into Victories
Chapter 2- The International Becoming of Saudi Arabia: Reforms, PanIslamism, Wahhabism, and Women
Chapter 3- Distorted Economic Growth of Consumption: Kafala, Oil, and Radical Jihadism
Chapter 4- Governing Saudi Arabia: Religion is Power
Chapter 5- Reforming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: King Salman and Mohammed bin Salman
Part II
Part II Introduction- The Saudi Arabia That Can Be: Women, Patriarchy, and Change
Chapter 6- Globalization, Westernization, and Nationalism: Saudi Vision 2030 and Women
Chapter 7- The Feminization of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Legal Profession and the Majlis Al Shura
Chapter 8- Reforming Family Relations: Marriage, Divorce, and Child Custody
Chapter 9- Social Stratification and the New Saudi Arabia: Gender, Domestic Workers, and Shias
Conclusion- All Must Change So That All Stays the Same
Bibliography
About the Author
