Introduction: The Centrality of Women’s Movements in the Post-revolution Dynamics in North Africa

Abstract

The introduction presents the central argument of the book, namely that the interaction between different types of colonial heritages and various types of post-colonial rule in North Africa created new actors and agents, as well as new ambiguities and dilemmas, that culminated in the so-called Arab Spring and the subsequent developments in which women’s movements have occupied center stage. To address this argument, women’s movements are first contextualized within the overarching historical and political sources of power in North Africa. A presentation of the chapters of the volume follows, with a focus on how they address the book’s argument either conceptually or through country-specific studies. Taken together, the chapters of this book open new venues of research on North African studies and offer possibilities for comparison at the local, regional, and global levels.