Informal, Organised, Rebellious: Women’s Activism in the Middle East

Speakers:

Beverly Metcalfe (Manchester)
Sophie Richter-Devroe (Exeter)
Necla Açık (Regent’s University, London)

The so-called Arab Spring and its continuing effects have propelled the dynamics of protest, uprisings and revolution throughout the Middle East back into the focus of academic interest across various disciplines. Women of all kinds of political affiliations have been part of violent and non-violent protests, occupations, sit-ins, marches and internet activism. This alone gives an indication of the various ways in which women choose to be political active: organised and individual; overt and covert; openly rebellious and subtly subversive.
This evening event organised by Movements@Manchester as part of the Protest TALKS series brings together three speakers from different disciplines working on Kurdistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE. It aims at shedding light on questions ranging from: What forms of political action do different women choose? Which struggles and actions do they take part in? Where and how do they organise? What goals, demands and interest do they have?