This research identifies structural, cultural, and dynamic elements operating in the campaign for women's rights in Kuwait. Using data from multiple sources, it focuses on the main characteristics and patterns of activism starting from the Gulf War of 1990 - 1991, paying particular attention to its growth and decline during the 1990s, an understudied period in the literature on women's movements in the Middle East. Our findings underscore the embeddedness of the struggle for women's rights in political development generally, and add to the understanding of social movements and their evolution in non-Western contexts.