Suchergebnisse

"About 30 of us, all exhausted with aching feet, gathered in a run-down outdoor cantina in the center of Mexico City in April 2012. The sound of varied regional accents bounced off the walls-the sing-songy lilt of the Yucatán, the nasal northern inflection, rapid-fire Mexico City slang, and at times my gringo-accented Spanish interjected a question or comment. This motley crew had spent the day in the Mexico's Senate chanting, waiting, listening, chiding, cajoling, and finally cheering when a majority of Mexican Senators voted to approve the Victims' Law. We"--

Getting beyond the stereotypes -- The Arab Republic of Syria -- Education, expectations, and opportunities -- Engagement, faith, and family -- Cutting the melon: choices in married life -- Paying for the honey: managing work and family -- Technology, security, and social change -- Crafting lives: agency and resources under Bashar Al-Asad

Drawing on fieldwork that spans nearly twenty years, this book offers a rare portrayal of ordinary family life in Damascus, Syria. It explores how women draw on cultural ideals around gender, religion, and family to negotiate a sense of collective and personal identity. Emphasizing the ability of women to manage family relationships creatively within mostly conservative Sunni Muslim households, the author highlights how personal and material resources shape women's choices and constraints concerning education, choice of marriage partner, employment, childrearing, relationships with kin, and the uses and risks of new information technologies. The author argues that taking a nuanced approach toward analyzing women's identity and authority in society allows us to think beyond dichotomies of Damascene women either as oppressed by class and patriarchy or as completely autonomous agents of their own lives. Tracing ordinary women's experiences and ideals across decades of social and economic change, this book highlights the salience of collective identity, place, and connection within families, as well as resources and regional politics, in shaping a generation of families in Damascus.