Lika eller olika? Kvinnoorganiseringen i Algeriet och Tunisien

Abstract

For years, women in Algeria and Tunisia have come together and demonstrated or formed women's groups. They have done so under numerous headings; snch as, feminists, democrats and Islamists. How can these activities he understood? What criteria are required in order to understand the political activities of women in Algeria and Tunisia? The artide aims both at comparing the women^ movements of Algeria and Tunisia, and to identify criteria as tools for an analysis of women's movements. How can a women's movement in North Africa be understood? The similarities are greater between the two countries than it would first seem. The myth of Tunisia as a pioneer of women's rights, among Arab countries, does not hold true when womens rights are examined more closely. Women in Tunisia are struggling for the same goals as women in Algeria. However, one difference in Algeria can be identified, which also calls into question our understanding and differentiation of the phases of movements. This comes about when Algerian men are stopped by the police from joining the women who are demonstrating. It would seem that the police, at this point in time, have not recognised women as a gronp. Women's political acts are seen as nondangerous and insignificant in such a phase. Låter on, the resistance to women's movements becomes extensive in both countries, as well as being coupled with the repression of the one-party state in Algeria. The final shared aspect between the two countries are the embryonic beginnings of a dialogue between Islamist and democrat or feminist women, for better or for worse.