Judging Women’s Rights, Gender & Citizenship in Ben Ali’s Tunisia

Series: 

Author:
Sarah Grosso
Tunisia has often been commended for its progressive stance on women’s rights and viewed as a role model for family law reform in the Muslim world. Judging Women’s Rights, Gender & Citizenship in Ben Ali's Tunisia weaves together intimate stories and theory to demystify claims that the progressive laws supported gender equality in practice. Through the eyes of citizens and legal professionals, it reveals how women and men experienced their rights under Ben Ali’s repressive regime, tracing connections between gender, ethics and the law. This accessibly written book provides a vital backdrop for understanding contemporary debates in Tunisia where women’s rights remain a hotly contested topic.
Copyright Year:
2025
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-71274-4
Publication:
16 Dec 2024
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-71273-7
Publication:
19 Dec 2024
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Front Matter
Preliminary Material
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Part 1 Dark and Light
Chapter 1 Prologue: Engendering Change
Chapter 2 Encounters: Judging Citizenship
Chapter 3 Law Lessons: Judging the Law
Chapter 4 Before and After
Chapter 5 Gendered Judgement
Chapter 6 Dislocation: Where Judging Begins
Chapter 7 Listening to Silences
Part 2 Family
Chapter 8 Becoming
Chapter 9 Creating Homes
Chapter 10 Creating Friends
Chapter 11 Marriage Is Like a Watermelon
Chapter 12 Creating Marriage
Chapter 13 Good Wife; Ideal Husband
Chapter 14 Sex and the City
Chapter 15 Making a Living
Chapter 16 Woman’s Work
Chapter 17 Breaking Marriage: Those Who Can(not) Divorce
Part 3 Law
Chapter 18 Court House
Chapter 19 Inside Out: the Court Office
Chapter 20 From Both Sides: Encountering the State
Chapter 21 Under the Spotlight: Public Hearings
Chapter 22 Seeing Like a Court
Chapter 23 Behind the Scenes
Chapter 24 Reconciliation as Theatre
Chapter 25 Stepping Out of the Page
Chapter 26 A File Is Born
Chapter 27 Maktoub: Documenting Divorce for Harm
Chapter 28 Maktoub: Poetic Justice in Divorce without Grounds
Chapter 29 The Cost of Divorce
Chapter 30 Dislocated Families
Chapter 31 Making ‘Bad’ Mothers
Chapter 32 Politics and Patriline
Part 4 Judging Women’s Rights
Chapter 33 Towards a Relational Reading of Women’s Rights
Afterword: Available Light
Chapter 34 Reflections on Women’s Rights in Post-revolutionary Tunisia and Beyond
Back Matter
Bibliography
Index
Sarah Grosso, PhD (LSE, 2014), teaches at Webster University. A counsellor and consultant, she has worked for international organisations including UNICEF, UNESCO and the ICRC. Sarah has published articles and book chapters on Tunisia, women’s rights, gender and anthropology.
Acknowledgements

Part 1: Dark and Light


1 Prologue: Engendering Change
 1 La vie en mauve: Documenting Women’s Rights in the Time of Ben Ali

2 Encounters: Judging Citizenship
 Interlude: the Bourguiba Institute of Modern Languages, April 2007

3 Law Lessons: Judging the Law
 Interlude: Ministry of Statistics, May 2007
 Interlude: Before and After: Marriage and Divorce

4 Before and After
 1 Tradition or Innovation?
 Interlude: Judging Divorce

5 Gendered Judgement
 1 Ambiguous Spaces
 2 Extraordinary Ethics
 Interlude: Seeing beyond the Veil

6 Dislocation: Where Judging Begins
 1 Dislocated Selves
 2 Dislocated Places: Fields
 3 Dislocated Judgement
 4 Dislocated Morals

7 Listening to Silences
 1 Encounters
 2 Connections
 3 Listening to Silences
 4 Anthropologist or Spy?
 5 Encounters in the Fields
 6 Vulnerable Lives

Part 2: Family


 Interlude: Knowing Whom to Trust

8 Becoming
 1 The Safety Pin
 2 Seeing the Invisible
 3 Performing Identity

9 Creating Homes

10 Creating Friends
 1 No Return

11 Marriage Is like a Watermelon
 1 Consent

12 Creating Marriage
 1 Mother and Daughter: Marriage across Two Generations

13 Good Wife; Ideal Husband
 1 Good Wives
 2 Ideal Husbands
 Interlude: Finding the Ideal Husband?

14 Sex and the City

15 Making a Living
 1 Shrinking Families
 2 Increasing Living Costs
 Interlude: the Hunter and Rim (Part 1)

16 Woman’s Work
 1 Real v Ideal
 2 Dislocated Marriages
 Interlude: Reciprocity
 Interlude: the Unthinkable

17 Breaking Marriage: Those Who Can(not) Divorce
 1 Those Who Did Not Divorce
 2 The Stigma of Divorce

Part 3: Law


 Interlude: in Between

18 Court House
 1 Setting the Scene
 2 Outside In

19 Inside Out: the Court Office
 1 The Court Staff
 2 From Morouj to the Court: the Story of Karima
 3 On Marriage and Motherhood
 4 ‘Family Atmosphere’ and Neighbourhood Spirit
 5 Attitudes to Divorce
 Interlude: Judge and Justice

20 From Both Sides: Encountering the State
 1 Navigating Legal Territories
 2 Judging Ideal Husbands and Wives

21 Under the Spotlight: Public Hearings
 Interlude: the Hunter and Rim (Part 2)

22 Seeing Like a Court

23 Behind the Scenes
 1 Reconciliation?
 2 Reconciliation Sessions: the Legal Framework
 3 Defining ‘Harm’

24 Reconciliation as Theatre
 1 The Reconciliation Judge: ‘I Must Make Them Feel I Am Not Judging Them’
 2 Suspicion and Sympathy
 3 Deconstructing the Ideal Husband
 4 Deconstructing the Good Wife
 Interlude: Maktoub (1)

25 Stepping Out of the Page

26 A File Is Born
 1 Making Files
 2 Making Evidence
 3 Proof of ‘Harm’

27 Maktoub: Documenting Divorce for Harm
 1 Litigant Strategies
 2 Documenting Bad Husbands: Not Maintaining the Family
 3 Documenting Bad Wives: Leaving the Marital Home
 4 A Tale of Two Contrasting Cases
 5 Listening to Evidence

28 Maktoub: Poetic Justice in Divorce without Grounds
 1 Customized Arguments
 2 Writing Good Husbands and Wives

29 The Cost of Divorce
 1 Battles for Compensation
 2 Writing Morality and Legitimacy

30 Dislocated Families
 1 The Real Cost of Divorce
 2 Gendering Parental Duties: the Legal Framework

31 Making ‘Bad’ Mothers
 1 Absent Mothers
 2 Unfit Mothers
 3 (The Loss of) Custody as a Cost of Divorce
 4 Interest of the Child

32 Politics and Patriline
 1 Breaking Families

Part 4: Judging Women’s Rights


33 Towards a Relational Reading of Women’s Rights
 1 Women’s Rights; Men’s Wrongs
 2 Recreating Gender and Citizenship
 3 Relational Rights: Family Law Begins at Home
 4 Performing Citizenship
 5 Smoke and Mirrors: Judging Women’s Rights

Afterword: Available Light

34 Reflections on Women’s Rights in Post-revolutionary Tunisia and Beyond
 1 Safeguarding the PSC
 2 ‘Same, Same, but Different’: Defining Gender Equality
 3 Reforming Gender since the 2011 Revolution
 Interlude: The Two Hajj
 4 Seeking Authenticity: the ‘Real’ Tunisia?
 5 Inspiration: Transposing Women’s Rights
 6 Listening to Men
 7 Finding Light in Dark Places: Reading Women’s Rights
 8 Glimmers: the Joys of Fatherhood
Bibliography
Students and scholars of gender studies, women’s rights, and anthropology.
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