Femininity and Possible Democracy in the Middle East

A century after the end of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent collapse of the Caliphate, the entire Middle East is still grappling with the challenge of establishing nation-states. A hundred years ago, it seemed evident that democracy was within reach; the Constitutional Revolution in Iran and Atatürk's reforms in Turkey suggested that democracy was achievable. However, today, numerous challenges have arisen, with fundamentalism being just one of them. Whether in established regimes or opposition organizations, there is no foreseeable future for democracy.

A wide range of theorists, particularly contemporary feminist theorists, have advocated for the revival of agency among the people of the Middle East. My own research, inspired by these theorists, is based on the premise that in order to answer the question of democracy, we must first understand the "demos" before determining the "kratos".

This study finds that cultural femininity has been a fundamental aspect of social agency in large parts of the Middle East, a factor that has been largely overlooked or denied in Western theory. This key finding emerged through an analysis of the discourse on state theory among Middle Eastern intellectuals and politicians. First, the theory of the state in the Middle East over the past century has been based on predominantly masculine concepts that deny or negate the historical agency of the people, and have been almost entirely blind to the historical agency of women. Second, it is suggested that achieving a comprehensive and guiding theory for the establishment of a state, as well as a model compatible with the actual culture of the people of the Middle East, requires serious attention to this historical agency. This agency is either inherently or necessarily feminine, or at least involves incorporating feminine knowledge into the foundations of social theory and redefining politics and the political.