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1 - Sustained Reforms

Family Law in Tunisia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2023

Adrien K. Wing
Affiliation:
University of Iowa
Hisham A. Kassim
Affiliation:
Kassim Legal, PLLC, Washington, DC
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Summary

This chapter offers an overview of the sustained reforms of Islamic family law that occurred in Tunisia from the 1950s to 2020. Organized historically, it traces developments during major time periods starting with the end of colonial rule in 1956 and ending with the aftermath of the 2010/11 Arab Spring that ushered a process of democratization in the last decade. Considering marriage, divorce and custody, we present the reforms that placed Tunisia at the vanguard of the Arab world in regard to liberalizing family law and women’s rights. We argue that sustained reforms were possible because succeeding regimes found it in their best interests to pursue a reformist policy. Since most reforms were initiated by state builders and state actors, we refer to them as “politics from above” in contrast to the “politics from below” that started in earnest with women’s activism in the later periods.

Type
Chapter
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Family Law and Gender in the Middle East and North Africa
Change and Stasis since the Arab Spring
, pp. 23 - 42
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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