Author Date

2024-04-04

Degree Name

BA

Department

Political Science

College

David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies

Defense Date

2024-02-29

Publication Date

2024-04-03

First Faculty Advisor

Joshua Gubler

First Faculty Reader

Spencer Scoville

Honors Coordinator

Darin Self

Keywords

Arab Spring, Women, Empowerment, Middle East, Jordan, Participation, Women's Empowerment

Abstract

Middle Eastern governments typically score at or near the bottom of indices measuring women’s rights and political participation. The Middle East also contains a large percentile of authoritarian regimes. The Arab Spring challenged these regimes' gender structures as they included vast female participation, but there is little existing research to understand the Spring's impact on opinions of women's participation and empowerment in the region. This study aims to add to existing research on this topic by analyzing Arab Barometer data from 4 questions dealing with opinions of women’s participation in society gathered before, during, and after the Arab Spring. I employ difference in difference t-tests to highlight statistical differences in change of opinions before and during the Arab Spring. Additionally, I draw on twenty semi-structured interviews (conducted in Jordan in 2022) to supplement this quantitative analysis to identify causation between the Arab Spring and changes in public opinion towards increased women's empowerment. The quantitative analysis illustrates a correlation between the Arab Spring and opinions of women's empowerment, but the shifts of opinions are both negative and positive. The data suggests that the negative impact is connected with the second half of the Arab Spring when the governments were subject to more instability. The interview results suggest a complicated relationship in the minds of Jordanians between the Arab Spring and public opinion of women's empowerment.

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