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Gender, National Identity and Status of Women in Gulf Countries
Abstract
The Gulf Arab States are engaged in the process of creating a unique national-identity, which will differentiate them from the neighboring states and help them strengthen their image globally. Nationalism and national identity are two still under construction. Recently, Gulf States have accelerated their efforts in promoting a national myth rooted in the selective imagining of the past, the binary of modern nationalism theory. The role of women is central to nation building and national-identity projection; each of the States uses women as a symbol of the nation’s values, vision and policies. The paper seeks to answer the following; to what extent and in what ways are national identities and policies in Gulf States gendered? In addition, the paper will explore the status of women in relation to nation-building processes in two Gulf countries. This paper uses mostly two research methods to research the topic and answer the main questions: secondary sources such as quantitative and qualitative studies on national identity in Gulf and the role of women in this identity construction and discourse analysis of relevant government documents and projects to contextualize broader studies and theories.
Discipline
Sociology
Geographic Area
Qatar
Sub Area
Nationalism