Sara Rahnama, "The Future Is Feminist: Women and Social Change in Interwar Algeria" (Cornell UP, 2023)
When Algerians of the 1920s and 30s imagined the future of their country, women\u2019s liberation was foundational to their vision. From the first generation of French-educated schoolteachers, to urban domestic workers who challenged spatial and economic divisions, to nationalist journalists pushing back against French colonial claims, Sara Rahnama describes how a range of Algerian actors conceived of women\u2019s rights and responded to new developments in their own country and across the Middle East.\xa0\nThe Future is Feminist: Women and Social Change in Interwar Algeria\xa0(Cornell University Press, 2023) reveals a broad consensus that the advancement of Muslim women was necessary to Algeria\u2019s progress. Rahnama draws on new sources to explain the \u201cecosystem of intellectual energy devoted to Muslim\u201d that debated girls\u2019 education, women\u2019s employment, voting rights, and women\u2019s and men\u2019s headwear. The book places Algeria in a broader regional conversation, as writers turned to Islamic teachings and history and looked to contemporary changes to women\u2019s political and social opportunities in Egypt, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Palestine to justify needed reforms in Algeria. These discussions in the interwar period sowed seeds that would blossom in the 1950s and 60s as Algerian women joined the nationalist movement, and gained new platforms to contribute their own opinions to these contested issues.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies