La badil la badil: The effects of military occupation on gender dynamics in Sahrawi political resistance
[Thesis]
Erica Vasquez
Adely, Fida J.
Georgetown University
2015
96
Committee members: Egnell, Robert
Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-321-71049-6
M.A.
Arab Studies
Georgetown University
2015
This study argues that the Moroccan military occupation of the Western Sahara has had a gendered effect on Sahrawi society, and consequently on the Sahrawi resistance movement. This argument is presented in three points: 1) the occupation impacts Sahrawi gender dynamics. This is exemplified by the significant increase in participation of women as frontliners and political figures from the start of this conflict in the early 1970s to the present day, and the explicit targeting of men as primary threats to the state; 2) the conflict and long-term military occupation led to the increased politicization of Sahrawi women's leadership roles; 3) the occupation has created a generational shift amongst Sahrawi women of the older and younger generation regarding their desire to participate in public forms of resistance and political leadership due to the severe level of institutionalized discrimination throughout the Occupied Territories.
Peace Studies; Political science; Gender studies
Social sciences;Gender dynamics;Generations;Military occupation;Settler-colonialism;Western sahara;Women