Abhatoo - Centre Nationale de Documentation

This paper explores women’s rights and women’s land rights in postcolonial Tunisia and Morocco by examining the legal institutions and social discourse that shape these rights. Tunisia and Morocco share key similarities as well as important differences, and studying women’s rights and women’s land rights provides a rewarding comparison of how two postcolonial states address these contested issues. Understanding land rights requires an understanding of the institutions that govern and administer land. Accordingly, this paper investigates key land and property arrangements from the colonial and postcolonial eras in these two states. Likewise, understanding women’s rights requires an understanding of the social and cultural considerations of women’s status in Islamic society, as well as the women’s rights movements and women’s rights discourse that emerged in Tunisia and Morocco.
This paper contains five parts. Part I explores the relationship between extractive institutions, development narratives, and the legal system in colonial and postcolonial states. Part II investigates land rights within colonial and postcolonial Tunisia and Morocco, as well as the institutions that govern and administer land in these two states. Parts III and IV examine the legal construction of gender in postcolonial Tunisia and Morocco. These parts also detail the emergence of strong women’s rights movements and women’s rights discourse in both states.
Part V concludes by discussing the importance of women’s land rights and the challenges and opportunities for securing strong women’s land rights in Tunisia and Morocco.