Political and Socio-Economic Change in the Middle East and North Africa

Roksana Bahramitash is Director of Research for the Canada Research Chair in Islam, Pluralism and Globalization at the University of Montreal, Canada. She previously worked as Faculty Lecturer on Gender and Environment with the Simone de Beauvoir Institute and Research Associate of Iranian studies at Concordia University, Canada. Hadi Salehi Esfahani is Professor of Economics and Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. He holds a BSc in engineering from the University of Tehran, Iran, and a PhD in economics from the University of California at Berkeley, USA.

"This volume provides a valuable theoretical overview, four fascinating case studies by eminent scholarly experts of political economy and working women, and a concluding chapter that ties all the threads together. The book is effective in documenting the impact of neoliberal economic policies in the MENA region on low income families, and especially women and youth. The book ought to be essential reading for all international economics courses in general, and for classes about the contemporary MENA region." - Eric Hooglund, Editor, Middle East Critique "For this volume on the causes of the recent Middle East uprisings, Bahramitash and Esfahani have selected studies that show how a quest for social and economic justice helped launch the Arab Spring. What transforms the work from useful to invaluable is the decision to highlight women's role and status in MENA economies - a gendered perspective that yields some wise policy prescriptions for including the region's women and youth, and reducing inequality and poverty." - Diana Strassmann, Carolyn and Fred McManis Distinguished Professor in the Practice, Rice University, USA "Bahramitash and Esfahani's work consistently opens up questions of political economy within Middle Eastern societies to research-based, gender-focused analyses. This volume provides unique insight into the underlying conditions of both the unexpected Arab Spring and the grimly ensuing Arab Winter, with a sensitive awareness of the tensions between claims for economic rights and social justice vs. liberal rights and juridical process. A timely and important book." - Norma Claire Moruzzi, Associate Professor of Political Science and Gender & Women's Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

• 1. Introduction; Roskana Bahramitash, Hadi Salehi Esfahani2. Neoliberal Transformation and the Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt; Karen Pfeifer3. Labor Force Conditions of Middle East Youth: The Role of Demographics, Institutions, and Gender in the Arab Uprising Revolts; Edward Sayre4. Emerging Grassroots Processes for Inclusive Citizenship: The Case of Moroccan Female Workers in the Textile and Garment Sector; Andrea Martinez5. Understanding Women's Labor Force Participation and Entrepreneurship: The Case of Turkey; Özlem Altan-Olcay6. Women's Economic Role in the MENA Region: Growth and Equality through Female-Owned SMEs; Roskana Bahramitash, Hadi Salehi Esfahani