Contesting Realities

Situated in the southernmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Aden is considered the economic capital of the Republic of Yemen. Once a British colony, the port city later served as the capital of the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, the only Marxist regime in the Middle East. Tracing the social and political history of Aden, Dahlgren explores the evolving ways in which gender and family relations are established. The author offers a complex picture of Adeni society in which norms for morality and propriety vary according to the context of the social space. Documenting a nuanced social flexibility, Dahlgren stresses women’s agency and power to maneuver within a traditional patriarchal Muslim community.