Defiance and Compliance

The gap between rich and poor is widening in most countries, putting more pressure on women in particular who often find themselves with the ultimate responsibility to provide for their families, especially their children, in the face of economic and political discrimination. Based on participant observation and in-depth interviews in four low-income neighborhoods in Cairo, this book offers rich, novel and intimate data relating to poor women''s lives and everyday forms of resistance to gender inequalities in the labor market and at home. In contrast to the common stereotype of Middle Eastern women as totally oppressed and devoid of agency, this study shows the complex and diverse ways in which low-income women devise strategies to contest existing gender arrangements and improve their situation. It is a significant contribution to current debates about poverty, gender, power, and resistance.

The gap between rich and poor is widening in most countries, putting more pressure on women in particular who often find themselves with the ultimate responsibility to provide for their families, especially their children, in the face of economic and political discrimination. Based on participant observation and in-depth interviews in four low-income neighborhoods in Cairo, this book offers rich, novel and intimate data relating to poor women's lives and everyday forms of resistance to gender inequalities in the labor market and at home. In contrast to the common stereotype of Middle Eastern women as totally oppressed and devoid of agency, this study shows the complex and diverse ways in which low-income women devise strategies to contest existing gender arrangements and improve their situation. It is a significant contribution to current debates about poverty, gender, power, and resistance.

Dedication
Acknowledgement
A Note on Transliteration

Introduction: A Personal Trajectory

Chapter 1. Rethinking Approaches to Resistance, Power and Gender Relations: Towards a Theoretical Framework
Chapter 2. The Macrocontext: an Overview of Sociopolitical and Economic Transformations in Egypt
Chapter 3. The Research Setting and Characteristics of the Study Community
Chapter 4. Ethnography in One’s Native City: Research Approach, Methods, and Fieldwork Encounters
Chapter 5. Premarital Standards and Expectations
Chapter 6. Marriage Transactions and Negotiations
Chapter 7. Defiance and Acquiescence in The Labor Market
Chapter 8. Conjugal Arrangements and Sexuality
Chapter 9. Intrahousehold Decisions and Extrahousehold Networks

Conclusion: Toward an “Organic Feminism”

Tables
Table I: Population of Egypt, 1937-1995
Table II: An Example of an Ayma

Map
Map I: Map of Cairo

Appendices
Appendix I: Description of Study Population
Appendix II: Guiding Research Questions

Bibliography
Index