Tradition and the Veil: Female Status in Tunisia and Algeria

This discussion examines markedly different government policies toward the status of women in the 2 developing North African states of Tunisia and Algeria. Despite a shared Arabic Islamic and French colonial heritage Tunisias regime has vigorously undermined traditional Islamic constraints on female reproductive freedom and public participation. In contrast Algerias leadership has explicitly rejected the concept of reproductive control and has overtly reaffirmed Islamic traditions restricting women to a subordinate domestic role. These differences cannot be explained by prevailing models of modernization based upon economic rationality demographic necessity or ideological proclivity. Algeria compared to Tunisia is more industrialized under greater population pressure and avowedly more socialist all of which would presumably favor official support for female emancipation yet the Tunisian commitment to gender equality far surpasses that of Algeria. The comparative analysis presented suggests an alternative explanation for these divergent policies towards women. It is argued that the observed differences in the commitment of the 2 governments to gender equality can best be explained as outcomes of the differing political contingencies facing the elites of the 2 countries. These circumstances and their consequences in turn have been shaped by the historical implications of European colonial penetration and subsequent revolution. National variations in the levels of commitment to indigenous cultural traditions such as female status are examined through an extension of the broader perspective of development from the center. The primary thesis of the development from the center perspective is that traditional values modes of action and social organization need not be and often are not fully replaced by "modern" alternatives as new states undergo the complex of social changes commonly termed modernization. The elites in the new states must simultaneously maintain themselves in power while implementing social and economic changes which may engender popular resistance and undermine their political authority. A frequent solution is the selective use of traditional symbols. In the Muslim context the traditional family oriented around the concept of female domesticity and subservience to males serves as a potent symbol of cultural identity. The need for elites to legitimate themselves in traditional terms is variable. In general the more precarious their hold on power and the greater the popular need for traditional anchors the greater will be the likelihood that traditional legitimation will be sought. Given the religious and cultural heritage in North Africa the Algerian elite used traditional Islam as a source of legitimation with particular emphasis upon Islamic rules concerning the family and the role of women.