Women and the Iraqi Uprising: Inequality, Space, and Feminist Perspectives

Abstract

This article explores the meaning, significance, and implications of women’s participation in the October 2019 uprising. It provides a critical perspective to analyse the complex realities of women in Iraq, and explain the social, political and economic context and how it impacts their lives and reinforces gender inequality. After situating womenʼs participation in its historical and social reality, and from a feminist political economy perspective the article then explores its meaning and significance. It argues that the uprising as a mostly urban phenomenon produced an alternative social space that challenged the dominant militarized, privatized, and masculine space. Finally, the article explores the absence of a proper feminist agenda, arguing that the dominant frame that was available for women is to frame their participation within nationalist rather than feminist terms, to assert their participation as any other social group. As such, their massive participation was not gender–specific, but inclusive and transformative, which allowed them to negotiate with the dominant patriarchy.