The Politics of Family Laws in Egypt and Tunisia

Egypt and Tunisia share various historical, cultural, and political commonalities. Nevertheless, the state-religion arrangements in the two countries show many differences, particularly regarding the scope of religious reference in family laws. Existing literature is primarily shaped by two dominant paradigms: secularization theory and postcolonialism. The first focuses mainly on differences, emphasizing the effect of cultural and ideological change as the primary instigators of progressive or secular policies and legislation in Tunisia versus conservative tendencies in Egypt. On the other hand, Talal Asad’s (2003) postcolonial critique emphasizes the structural similarities between different cases whereby modern secular states intervene in religion and control it in favor of the contemporary secular logic of governance. The current study goes beyond these dominant paradigms, suggesting a more nuanced approach: a “Contextual Political Analysis”. It emphasizes the effect of historical settlements, elite interests, legal and institutional changes, and power balances as the main variables shaping state-religion relations

Elite · Ideology · Legislation · Politics · Power (physics · Scope (computer science · Secularization · Islamic Studies and History · Middle East Politics and Society · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender