In recent decades, the structure of social and economic life in Saudi Arabia has undergone enormous change, and among those most affected are the elderly. While Islam enjoins respect for and care of the elderly, economic and social factors are changing the traditional system of family-based care. This thesis investigates care of elderly women in institutional and family settings in Medina. It examines the experience of old age and the discourse surrounding it, focusing on the factors influencing care arrangements, elderly women’s perceptions of their role in the family and society, the practical, economic, social and psychological implications of care for the elderly women and their relatives, the profile of carers, the dynamics of the care relationship, problems faced and support received. Data for 20 elderly women in a care home were collected through participant observation during a three-month placement, together with semi-structured interviews with 5 residents and 31 members of staff. Data for seven elderly women in family settings were collected through semi-structured interviews with the women, their main carer(s) and domestic staff. It was found that care decisions were influenced mainly by economic status and family structure. Women in family settings underwent a gradual transition, continuing to a great extent to enact former roles, while care home residents suffered an abrupt change and reconstruction of identity as “patients” and “victims”. While both groups had subsistence and medical needs met, social and psychological needs were poorly met in the care home. Findings for both groups shed light on the roles of female carers, including a heavy reliance on migrant employees, whose motivations, working conditions and relationships with employers are explored. Implications from the findings are drawn for both ageing and migration theory, and for the support needed by elderly women and their carers in both family and care home settings.

The debate regarding whether or not Islam is inherently discriminatory towards women is endless. Even though the Quranic verses emphasize equality between man and woman and the supremacy of human dignity, the interpretation of the Islamic texts related to women are often influenced by the values of patriarchal societies resulting in discriminatory practices against women in many Muslim countries worldwide. The Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is often referred to as the ‘women’s bill of rights’ as it is the first international legally-binding document that specifically deals with all areas related to women’s lives. This convention is believed to aim at achieving equality between men and women in every field and supports women’s access to equal opportunities in the political and social spheres trying to overcome the social and cultural obstacles that might exist so they can have full rights in areas of legal rights, education, employment, healthcare, politics and finance. However, the implementation of this convention in Muslim societies remains as an ineffective remedy to the problems of women due to a number of reasons mainly related to lack of real government will and strict social and religious values. Like most Muslim countries, Bahrain has ratified the CEDAW while putting reservations on its main articles, leaving the convention without any real effect. Bahrain is a Muslim state that is small in population but serves as a good representation of the dilemma that Muslim societies experience in general, which is their eagerness to adapt to modern values whilst clinging at the same time to their religious roots. This thesis studies the Bahraini society in terms of its application of the CEDAW and the legislations related to women in different fields by giving a special focus to the controversial issues in Islam that hinder a full implementation of the CEDAW. This research has taken the challenge of investigating the situation of women rights in Bahrain and its compatibility with the international laws. Through using a research strategy based on questionnaires and interviews with different stakeholders, the thesis was able to present the views the society in Bahrain holds about the situation of women and the challenges facing women hindering them to further develop their situation. The outcomes of the work undertaken will put recommendations to improve the situation for Muslim women as states or concerned stakeholders should not rely only on trying to fully apply the CEDAW, but should work towards renewing the religious mindsets, create social awareness, and have a genuine political will to achieve equality. In a nutshell, the main target for change is to work essentially towards making a change that comes from within.

This thesis is about young second-generation Somali women in London who, in recent years, have begun to practise Islam. Based on over 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork, it investigates their everyday experiences of piety in a range of contexts across London. I argue that an analysis of these young women’s pious pursuits needs to account for the connections between the broader socio-political and economic context, and the affective, embodied, discursive, and cognitive dimensions of ethical self-fashioning. First, I demonstrate how these young practising women are drawing on forms of knowledge derived from the Islamic discursive tradition, liberal discourses and Somali history. I explore how these women’s ethical changes are initiated by current shifts in policies and discussions around the failures of multiculturalism, which have brought into sharp focus the questions of what it means to be Somali, Muslim, and British. Second, by extending a Foucaultian understanding of ethical change, I approach their practise of Islam by analysing the forms and means through which these young women imagine novel relations to themselves and to others including kin, friends, potential husbands, and God. I contrast these women’s experiences with those of the first-generation in order to trace historical changes. An ethnographic investigation into their everyday lives in a range of contexts beyond Islamic places of learning, reveals the multi-constituted, relational, and constantly shifting nature of the practising self. Ultimately, through the concept of hope I investigate the forces that animate these young practising women’s quests and account for their continuous, albeit fragmentary and often incoherent, attempts to transform themselves. This analysis moves beyond the anthropological literature on Islam and piety, which prioritises coherent, discursive traditions and often bounded models of piety. It further offers a challenge to current public and political representations of Muslim women in the UK, which tend to problematize Islam. Young practising Somali women, this thesis reveals, are intervening within, and transforming these contemporary debates around the Muslim subject.

This thesis is an invitation to investigate social issues in times when technologies are a social construction that is very much taken for granted. Who is in front of the screen and what it means to individuals can be easily overlooked, particularly when the subject is migrant women, part of a minority. When people shape and appropriate a technology the relationship is not unidirectional; their interpretations and practices also forge their transnational experiences as there are no standardised migrant experiences, nor standardised uses of technology. Hence it is crucial to problematise the users and to deconstruct the social and cultural context of their appropriations. Therefore by challenging domestication theory and applying it to users who are part of a transnational arena, with this thesis I investigate which concepts and rationale of this approach are useful for deconstructing the role of technologies in the lives of migrant women. The questions that guide this thesis are how the internet gains a place and a meaning by being appropriated in a transnational home, and how this influences women’s daily experiences. The theoretical contribution is firstly to bring together notions of internet appropriation in everyday life with those of the transnational literature and migration, and furthermore to contribute by tackling aspects of digital inclusion and how disadvantaged populations appropriate technologies from a cultural standpoint, highlighting the relevance of their condition as migrants with transnational links. Therefore I provide an ethnographic account of migrant Latinas in vulnerable conditions in London, and their internet experiences, by following a qualitative methodology that incorporates in-depth interviews with thirty-seven women and participant observation in two community centres as well as five participants’ households. The main conclusion is that although their levels of digital engagement and degrees of technological expertise were dissimilar, the internet was present in all their discourses and had an important role in their migrant situation, either by enabling them to continue their consumption practices and communications, and/or by empowering them to be part of this technological stream for the first time. Notwithstanding that there is not just one aspect which is responsible for how they construct their internet, their migration status and vulnerabilities enriched the approach by contributing to depicting their everyday, social and cultural context. Therefore the properties these women perceived were strongly connected with their current needs and interests as immigrants in a marginalisation stream. From a theoretical standpoint the main gap in understanding migrants’ domestication of technologies was the scant attention paid to both their cultural appropriation and the nuances of their hybrid context, as well as to spaces of belonging and digital location going beyond geographical limits. This was pivotal in the creation of cultural meanings, and of the context within which the technologies were (re)appropriated.

This thesis explores women’s disclosure of domestic violence, and is based on the findings of two research studies. The first study explored prevalence rates of domestic violence reported by women following childbirth. The subsequent narrative study explored women’s experiences of disclosure and their interactions with statutory agencies. The research was influenced by a feminist epistemology, recognizing the marginalisation of the women’s experiences from a subjugated relationship, addressing the power relationship between the researcher and participants and because of the significant disparity between gendered lives. The study was conducted in two parts. A survey of five hundred women in the immediate postnatal period within a large NHS Hospital participated in the first part of the study. The second study involved narrative interviews with fifteen women living within their own community who talked about their experiences of domestic violence and issues surrounding disclosure. Women’s stories about disclosure including the responses they received were influenced by cultural narratives. The theories of social power have been utilized as an explanatory framework and provide the theoretical basis of the analysis. The study found low levels of disclosure at two specific points along the pregnancy/childbirth continuum; during booking in clinic and in the immediate postnatal period. Furthermore, the findings revealed three specific tactics used by perpetrators to engage women in the early relational stage with the intentionality of exerting control and subjugation. These have been termed feeling special, feeling vulnerable and commitment. Whilst women talked of coercion and subjugation by their partners, they also talked of how their interactions with statutory agencies limited their agency. The significance of this study is that the thesis was able to challenge contemporary policies developed by statutory agencies in the provision of support to women who experience domestic violence. The thesis develops some understanding of the nature and role of cultural narratives and patterns of disclosure before suggesting new directions to further advance the findings presented. Finally, the thesis proposes recommendations to improve training for statutory agencies in providing a response to women disclosing domestic violence, suggesting a new direction in thinking about the facilitation of this training.

Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Liverpool's world-wide transport links, and its close proximity to Ireland, rendered it a most convenient - if not always the most welcoming - destination for large numbers of female migrants. Therefore, the initial purpose of this study is to compare the migration experience of Irish women who settled in Liverpool between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, to examine whether that experience changed over time and, if it did, to establish the nature of that change. Beginning with an examination of the perception of the Irish by their British neighbours, and how extremely high levels of settlement in Liverpool shaped attitudes there, exploration is made of the way these attitudes were reflected in that city's treatment of Irish migrants. Secondly, consideration is given to expressions of prevailing ideology surrounding women's role within the home and in the wider society, that the influences and pressures that were brought to bear upon Iirsh women - in Ireland and in Britain - might be examined. Thirdly, examination is made of the economic climate in Liverpool, particularly in connection with female work opportunities, which set the scene for examination of employment trends amongst female migrants. The scale of the Irish presence in Liverpool, and its impact, coloured local perceptions for many years, the sense of and alien 'other' in their midst frequently errupting in expressions of resentment and hostility. Meanwhile, attitudes towards women - in Ireland and in Britain - saw society seek to control them through the imposition of social, moral and economic restrictions, and penalize those who stepped beyond these perameters. Moreover, Liverpool's over-reliance upon maritime commerce, rather than manufacturing, presented women with few opportunities for gainful employment. Those available were very often low status, poorly paid, and confined to a narrow range, yet underemployment amongst men in Liverpool rendered women's earnings an essential part of family incomes. In response, Irish women moved into occupations less popular with locally-born women, and made them their own, becoming particularly noted as street vendors and domestic servants. Indeed, the steady stream of female migrants willing to work in domestic service ensured that it remained a major field of female employment in Liverpool far longer than in other parts of Britain, even during the Second World War. In the process they created a tradition of working mothers which drew criticism from those in authority, and the attention of social reformers. Migration changed the lives of these women, it changed the country they left, and it changed the city that became their new home.

As part of the British government's Prevent strategy following the July 2005 attacks in London, Muslim women were engaged and empowered as allies to tackle violent extremism. This empowerment greatly improved the social and economic status of Muslim women in Britain. However the primary objective, to prevent the escalation of violent extremism, was not achieved. Furthermore, the way in which Prevent was implemented significantly damaged relations between those who were involved in the strategy and those who were excluded. The overarching research question was: 'How has the role of Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim women in British society changed from the period 1995 to 2010 as a result of the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks and the government's Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) strategy or Prevent agenda?' This, and a number of sub-questions, were examined using a mixed methodology approach, which included information drawn from academic literature, open source reporting and journalism, as well as surveys, interviews and focus group discussions with British Muslim women. The study concludes that Muslim women took advantage of the opportunities offered to them by the British government as part of the Prevent strategy, not particularly with the intentions of preventing violent extremism, but more because their progression was an assertion of their own human rights. However, during this time, many Muslim institutions were being ostracised by the government because of their Islamic school of thought, older Muslims and Muslim men were excluded, and Muslims experienced resentment from non-Muslim communities that had lost their government funding due to the exclusive focus on the Muslim community. The findings of this study imply the need for further research into some of the issues highlighted above, also advocating the commissioning of an urgent review of the British government's Prevent agenda, to include the policies that conflate Islam and violence.

The basic rationale of this research was to identify as many relevant factors and issues as possible that have enabled Sierra Leonean women emerging from a brutal civil/rebel war in Sierra Leone to develop resilience( “To spring back into shape” –Oxford English Dictionary) and Adversity-Activated Development(AAD) as they resettled, integrated and became part of their new communities. Their resilience enabled them to adapt successfully in the face of threats and disaster into a new society, environment and community in the United Kingdom (UK). This was despite the fact that they had endured many different types of adversity, including sexual and psychological violence during the civil/rebel war in Sierra Leone. The research examined various relevant and contributing factors, including personal, professional, family and community circumstances, status, attitudes, religious belief systems, social networks as well as behaviours. It also investigated the unique way that Sierra Leonean refugee women (a) experienced adversity (connected with the civil war in Sierra Leone), (b) addressed adversity at different stages (e.g. during the war, their flight, their transition through various, countries, refugee camps and also during their final phase of resettlement in the UK), and (c) integrated into their new communities. This research is based on the theoretical framework developed by Papadopoulos who: (a) Mapped out the four stages of the refugee experiences, i.e. Anticipation, Devastating Events, Survival and Adjustment (Papadopoulos, 1999), and (b) Differentiated the range of responses to adversity by using the Trauma / Adversity Grid that includes not only the negative responses but also the retained positives (i.e. resilient dimensions) as well the new positives that were the direct result of being exposed to adversity, that he termed Adversity-Activated development (AAD). (Papadopoulos 2004, 2007). The research followed a qualitative research methodology and took into account a gendered perspective on the views and personal experiences of Sierra Leonean refugee women living and working in the United Kingdom (U.K.). The data was collected through in-depth interviews, semi-structured questionnaires, group meetings and individual sessions with the participants, who are all Sierra Leonean refugee women living and working in the United Kingdom (UK). These participants had all been granted full refugee status. They were given time to complete questionnaires and they were also interviewed about their life histories using the heuristic method, theory and approach. This allowed the participants and the researcher to experience self-awareness and self-knowledge throughout the research process, while understanding the phenomenon of the factors that led to the resilience of these Sierra Leonean refugee women. Particular attention was paid to understanding the cultural framework (the use of traditional and cultural values and practices), coping mechanisms and capacities, integration and participation of these participants as well as to the wider psychosocial dimensions of their experience and how these women were able to adapt successfully to a completely new unknown environment, integrating and resettling into new ways of life in the United Kingdom (UK) despite all their traumatic experiences. The research also investigated the multidisciplinary nature of the care of refugees in general and how this relates to some of the specific issues affecting refugees, including their socio-economic development, human rights, cultural and traditional disorientation and dislocation, and sought to connect these to the loss of home, personal identity and community for refugees. The research is extremely topical, especially right now at this very moment in time when the world is facing an unparalleled crisis with migrant and refugees streaming into more developed countries, particularly in Europe. This refugee crisis created a lot of emotional responses in everybody, it touches the sensitivities of people, some react with fear and horror that their safe countries will be invaded by unruly and uneducated refugees that would burden their already economically stretched countries and others react with compassion wanting to open up their homes and welcome these troubled refugees who had to flee their unsafe countries looking for places of refuge. What happens in these situations, people see the refugees as a threat, as an additional burden and they cannot possibly see that these people may be in a position to help their host country and enable it to thrive. This research has shown that these Sierra Leonean women that came to the UK following the horrors of the civil war in their country certainly they did not prove to be a burden on the UK. On the contrary, they not only survived and supported each other but they also thrived and contributed to the development of the local communities where they settled. Therefore this research can be used as a proof that there is no justification to bring all the refugees under one umbrella and consider all of them as a burden to the host country. What this research also shows is that it is important to allow refugees tell their own story and help them digest their experiences and identify the various factors that contributed to them being able to survive and thrive.

No description available.

This thesis looks at how ‘the Muslim woman’ is produced in social policy discourses in the UK. It is a qualitative study based on interviews, observation and interpretive analysis of policy material. It focuses specifically on initiatives to empower Muslim women in order to combat terrorism which formed part of the UK’s Preventing Violent Extremism Agenda (Prevent). In January 2008 the National Muslims Women’s Advisory Group (NMWAG) was established and Local Authorities were encouraged to fund projects aimed at ‘empowering Muslim women’. The thesis begins by situating the research within a wider policy framework. At the national level it relates to debates on community cohesion, Britishness and multiculturalism; at the global level it relates to the UK’s involvement in the ‘war on terror’. The research examines local inflections in how the initiatives worked in practice, considering the impact of diversity within diversity. A key objective of these initiatives was to ‘give the silent majority a stronger voice’. The thesis considers the extent to which this objective was achieved, particularly in relation to the establishment of NMWAG. Through an analysis of the initiatives overseen by NMWAG it considers how empowerment is conceptualised and, therefore, also by definition, disempowerment. It suggests that empowerment is positioned as individualised in the form of neoliberal meritocratic aspiration. At the same time, however, it is collectivised in relation to religious affiliation; Islam emerges both as a source of disempowerment and as a potential solution. The thesis argues that these initiatives have worked to privilege religion at the expense of other salient axes of difference, particularly those embedded in socio economic and regional variations. Moreover, this privileging constitutes part of a broader gendered anti-Muslim racist rhetoric. Finally the thesis argues that deconstructing the trope of ‘the Muslim woman’ and attending to the differences between Muslim women opens up the possibility of building solidarities across religious boundaries and harnessing an “alternative politics of recognition”.