Promotional Information

Women in the Middle East is a broad, accessible book that deals superbly well with the historical literature. It is also an intriguing experiment in combining genres from a pioneer of Middle Eastern women's history. -- Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University This intriguing book brings together the scholarship of one of the great pioneers and advocates of Middle Eastern women's history and offers a fresh synthesis that integrates the literature of the past three decades into a single narrative. As such, it has no competitors. -- Beth Baron, Graduate Center of the City University of New York

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi Preface xiii Introduction 1 BOOK ONE: Women in the Middle East: A History 7 Introduction: Issues in Studying Middle Eastern Women's History 9 I. Regional Background and the Beginnings of Islam 13 II. From the Pious Caliphs through the Dynastic Caliphates 26 III. From the Turkish and Mongol Invasions to 1798 48 IV. Change in the Long Nineteenth Century 1798-1914 60 V. 1914-45: Nationalism and Women's Movements 75 VI. 1945-Today: New States and Trends, Women's Activism, and the Rise of Islamism 102 Conclusion 166 Notes to Book One 171 Bibliography of Books 193 BOOK TWO: Approaches to the Study of Middle Eastern Women 201 Part 1. Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender 203 Part 2. Scholarship, Relativism, and Universalism 225 Part 3. Women in the Limelight: Recent Books on Middle Eastern Women's History since 1800 251 Part 4. Problems in the Study of Middle Eastern Women 279 Part 5. Sexuality and Shi?i Social Protest in Iran (coauthored with Parvin Paidar [Nahid Yeganeh]) 297 BOOK THREE: Autobiographical Recollections 325 Part 1. Autobiographical Interview 327 Part 2. Supplement to the Interview 347 Bibliography of Works by Nikki R. Keddie since 1995 355 Index 357

About the Author

Nikki R. Keddie is Professor Emerita of Middle Eastern and Iranian History at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of numerous books, including Modern Iran and An Islamic Response to Imperialism.

Reviews

"This remarkable book enriches the field of Middle Eastern studies... To read these interviews from almost two decades ago is to be struck by how much the world and Middle Eastern studies have changed since. For the new prominence of scholarship about women, no little credit is due Nikki Keddie."--Haleh Esfandiari, Wilson Quarterly "All readers will enjoy the superb photographs, most of which were taken by the author during the 1970s...Graduate students will benefit from reading Keddie's nuanced understanding of the field's development from her perspective in 1978 and nearly a quarter of a century later."--M.L. Russell, Choice "This collection of papers is a useful reminder both of the evolving scholarship dealing with women in the Middle East, and of the significant contributions that Keddie has made to that scholarship. It is an important addition to the library of anyone interested in this subject."--John O. Voll, Journal of Social History