Imagining Saharawi women
The question of gender in Polisario discourse
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3978960 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joanna Allan (0000-0002-1784-4125, University of Leeds, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 189-202 |
| Publication date | 2010-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of North African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1362-9387 • E-ISSN: 1743-9345 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13629380902861103 |
| OpenAlex | W2155045500 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 16 |
When the Saharawis first fled their country – the former Spanish colony the Western Sahara – for the Hamada region of the Algerian desert in 1975, all able-bodied men were encouraged to depart to the frontline to struggle against the Moroccan and Mauritanian invasion. As a result, the refugee camps that gradually emerged in the Algerian desert were built, organised and administered almost exclusively by women. Indeed, women, their strong and vital role in Saharawi society, and the alleged gender equality that they enjoy, are a common focus in the revolutionary discourses and ideology of the Saharawi Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO). In this article I will explore such images of gender. First, I will focus on how Saharawi nationalists imagine the Saharawi nation and how gender is articulated within this, delineating the contours of POLISARIO ideology concerning gender and concepts of masculinity and femininity. My hypothesis is not only that assertions of gender equality are central to POLISARIO (emancipatory and revolutionary) discourse but also that they are central for specific reasons. Therefore, in the second part of the article, I will attempt to determine what internal and external functions and benefits these gender representations have for the POLISARIO. Finally, I will explore how Saharawi historical narratives are constructed to offer support and continuity to current images of gender
Art · Desert (philosophy · Femininity · Ideology · Literature · Masculinity · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Sociology · African Studies and Ethnography · African Studies and Geopolitics · Gender Studies · Law · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender
“For Us, Parliament Is a Tool for Liberation”
La diáspora de las mujeres saharauis en Galicia
Towards a Feminist Consciousness’
Connected Sahrawi refugee diaspora in Spain
Disidentification with Nationalist Conflict
Gender, Nationalism and Revolution in Western Sahara
Between Publics and Privates
Modernising Violence and Social Change in the Spanish Sahara (1957–1975)
Privilege, Marginalization, and Solidarity
Suspicion
Natural resources and intifada
Active Women and Ideal Refugees
Debating theology and the performance of nationhood
States and Women's Rights
The Content of the Form
Black Skin, White Masks
The ethnic origins of nations
The Invention Of Tradition
The Discursive Construction of National Identity
The Review Sexualidad (1925-28), Social Hygiene and the Pathologisation of Male Homosexuality in Spain
Empire, Desire and Violence
The issues of translation, transferability and transfer of social policies
Policy Learning in the European Union
Nationalism, identity and citizenship in the Western Sahara
Western Sahara. The Refugee Nation
Policies in Motion', Urban Management and State Restructuring
| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,08 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2026 (13) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |