Podcast

This episode tackles the current environmental crises witnessed across the globe and provides an analysis of these crises from an ecofeminist perspective. This includes highlighting the root causes of climate change focusing on capitalism/extractivism and the social injustices they (re)produce, with a focus on the different ways in which climate change impacts the lives of women and girls.

The episode provides an overview on the feminist movement “ecofeminism”, its definition, history as well as the various ecofeminist branches. The episode also sheds the light on the ways through which ecofeminism can be contextualized and understood within the MENA region, existing movements or initiatives with a similar direction in the MENA region and discusses opportunities and challenges that such movements face within this context. Finally, the episode provides recommendations for tackling environmental issues from an ecofeminist perspective.

Speakers include Angela Saade, Co-founder of JIBAL Organization in Lebanon, Deema Kaedbey, Co-founder and Co-director of the Knowledge workshop, Safaa Taleb, Editor at the Knowledge Workshop and Wiki Gender and Rula Asad, co-founder and executive director of the Syrian Female Journalists Network (SFJN).

The podcast episode delves into the gendered impact of privatization, austerity measures and rationing, looking at the ways in which they impact access to essential goods (e.g., sanitary pads), services (e.g., healthcare, protection from violence) and social protection mechanisms. The episode then discusses specific measures taken by governments during times of crises or economic and political turmoil, and elaborates on the ways through which these measures further exacerbate the challenges already faced by women and girls.

We look at the above topics within the MENA region context using a socialist feminist lens and provide recommendations for economic alternatives from this perspective. A definition of socialist feminism will be covered during the episode, along with an overview on the history of the movement as well as on the movement in the MENA region. 

Speakers include Shams Radwani Aabidi, feminist activist from Tunisia, Palestinian activist Sarah Kaddoura who is the founder of Haki Nasawi, and Hadeel Badarna, PhD Student at the University of Chicago.

In this podcast episode, we use a postcolonial feminist lens to better understand local feminist movements and narratives and the impact of colonialism and colonial discourses on feminist movements in the region. We look at the ways through which colonialism has stamped women’s realities, how it portrayed them as “others” and how colonial forces that raise the women’s empowerment flags are the same ones that exert various forms of oppression on women in the region.

We shed the light on efforts and movements within the region in relation to post-colonial feminism, activism in this direction, and the challenges that such movements face in the MENA context.

Speakers include Hind Ahmad Zaki, Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut, Ibtisam Al Atiyat, Associate Professor of Sociology at St. Olaf College and Nof Nasreddine, Director at the Centre for Transnational Development and Collaboration (CTDC), London.

This podcast delves into the impact of the professionalization of feminist social movements on feminist activism within the context of the MENA region. The episode provides a historical overview on the development of feminist and women’s rights organizations in the region and delves further into its impact on the structures of feminist movements, feminist discourses as well as on mobilization efforts. The episode also tackles the ways through which organizations’ bureaucratic structures and the reliance on international donor funding hinders mobilization efforts as well as feminist political actions. 

The episode then sheds the light on existing movements that are working on countering the negative repercussions that resulted from the professionalization of the feminist social movements and provides recommendations and practical solutions for activists and feminists in this direction.

Speakers include Rim Benrjeb, Journalist and Researcher from Tunisia, Islah Jad, Assistant Professor of Gender and Development at Birzeit University, Palestine and Nadine Mouawad, Feminist Activist from Lebanon.

This episode revisits the concept of intersectionality, providing a historical overview on intersectional feminist movements with the MENA region and shedding the light on current mobilization efforts in this direction. The episode addresses questions related to the extent to which feminist movements are intersectional, and whether there are any existing gaps that need to be addressed for advancing the intersectional feminist agenda. We examine whether some minority groups are still excluded from intersectional mobilization efforts and provide recommendations for moving towards stronger and more intersectional collective action. 

Speakers include Ibtisam Al Atiyat, Associate Professor of Sociology at St. Olaf College, Farah Baba, Advocacy and Communications Officer at the Anti-racism Movement (ARM), and Hareg, a migrant domestic worker based in Lebanon.

Despite the reforms that the Arab Spring hoped to bring, many people in different countries across the MENA region still face social and economic inequalities and are still marginalized. Therefore, there must be other solutions and alternative economic systems that guarantee justice and equality for all. Feminism has attempted to offer new solutions to deeply-rooted problems, and to reshape the debate about the failures of capitalism and address misconceptions about development and democracy.

The first episode of the Masaha podcast tackles the topic of social justice and its link to gender justice. Interviewees from Lebanon, Algeria, and Tunisia are invited to reflect on whether justice and equality have been achieved within the context of the MENA region, and to propose recommendations in this direction based on the experiences of countries that have made significant progress in recent years in the Arab world, such as Tunisia and Algeria.

There are many reasons for women’s lack of access to the labor market, the most important of which are the barriers created by existing discriminatory laws and policies, as well as patriarchal social norms.
In this episode, we tackle the barriers that women face with accessing the labor market, and delve further into understanding these barriers in the context of various Arab countries and how these challenges vary depending on their background, levels of education and the areas of work they are interested in. The guests for this episode are Dr. Wafaa Al-Khadra from Jordan, Dalanda Largash from Tunisia, and Dr. Ghada Barsoum from Egypt.

In the previous episode of the “Masaha” podcast, we tackled the barriers that women face in entering the labor market. In this episode, we explore the challenges that women face after entering the labor market and the various forms of discrimination they are exposed to at work, which affect their chances of advancing in their jobs and improving their living conditions. The guests of the episode are Samia Latif and Salwa Kenno Sbai’i from Tunisia, and Mona Ezzat from Egypt.

Over the past decades, care work occupied a large portion of the time, efforts and energies of women. Even today, women still do most of the paid and unpaid care work. In capitalist societies, the reproductive work of women lies at the bottom of the pyramid, the productive work of men is in the middle, and the upper part is occupied by the owners of the means of production. With the increase in population and in the number of elderly men and women, and with the persistence of barriers that prevent and limit women from entering the labor market, urgent measures to reorganize and redistribute care work are needed.

In this episode, we will answer questions such as: what is paid and unpaid care work? Who are the individuals who work in this field? Why some are exploited? And how can we reduce this exploitation? The guest of the episode is Lina Abu Habib from Lebanon.

Despite the economic reforms carried out by many Arab countries which can be said to have generally led to economic growth, benefits have mainly reached political elites. Negative repercussions resulting from these reforms included corruption, nepotism, and the shrinking and gradual disappearance of the middle class.

In this episode of the Masaha podcast, we will talk about the feminist movements’ critiques of capitalist and neoliberal systems, especially their inability to protect individuals and ensure equality and social justice, and we will answer the following question: How can we use feminist theories to start building economic systems that are just for all? And what were the effects of neoliberal reforms and programmes on the feminist movement in the region? The two guests of this episode are Farah Kobeissy from Lebanon and Dima Karadsheh from Jordan.

Every industrial revolution in human history is characterized by a specific technical innovation. For example, the first industrial revolution brought steam power which led to the establishment of factories and to the mechanization of production. The second industrial revolution brought electric power, and the third industrial revolution, brought the Internet, the first computers and the first mobile phones. Today, fifty years after the rise of the third industrial revolution, we reached the era of the fourth industrial revolution, which is changing the world again, but what distinguishes it?

In this episode, we will start by defining the fourth industrial revolution, discussing its effects on the economy and the labor market, and more specifically, how it impacts women in the workforce. We then move to talk about how women can face the challenges brought to the labor market by digitalization and autonomation. The guests of this episode are Sarah Abdallah from Lebanon, Sabrina Boukhorsa from Algeria, and Gihan Abu Zeid from Egypt.

The ILO defines social security as the protection provided by the state to individuals and families to ensure their access to healthcare and income security, especially in cases of old age, unemployment, sickness, disability, work injury, maternity or loss of a breadwinner. It is considered the mechanism and policy used for the redistribution of wealth and promotion of social justice.

Although every member of society, without exception, has the right to social security, this is not the case in many Arab countries. Many governments are forced to provide social security for their citizens through “Zakat” which is dictated, collected and distributed by religious institutions to communities in need. Therefore, the policies adopted hinder women's access to all the benefits of social safety nets. Also, the wars, violence and political turmoil in some Arab countries including Syria, Yemen, and Iraq among other, contribute to obstructing any real progress in this area, and the existence of any substantive discussions on the issue of women's rights and safety nets in these countries.

In this episode, we talk about the forms of social security in some Arab countries, the discrimination that women face in relation to social security policies and mechanisms, and the steps that should be taken to ensure equality in this regard. The guests of this episode are Bahia Baalbaki from Lebanon, Irene Salonis, and Hania Shalkami from Egypt.

There are many economic reasons behind women's inability to access financial resources, including their limited participation in the labor market. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, women's participation rates in the formal labor market are the lowest in the world. In addition to the economic barriers, there are also social and legal barriers that reinforce the role of men as breadwinners of the family, and as a result deny women the means to earn money and force them to financially depend on their husbands or male family members.

In this episode, we discuss the barriers that stand in the way of women’s financial independence in the MENA region. Guests include Suhair Farraj from Palestine, Dr. Salma Nims from Jordan, and Amal Hajjaj from Algeria.

When smartly designed and adequately financed, infrastructure can be inclusive of all citizens in terms of having access to the services they need. Clean water, electricity, safe transportation, schools, health facilities, information and communication technology are all infrastructure services that can also be a source of decent jobs for women, jobs that guarantee workers' rights by providing good working conditions.

In many countries in the MENA region however, infrastructure is still very weak and, in many cases, women are the most affected. All of these services can be most effective when their design, planning, and implementation are based on careful and informed analysis of gender disaggregated data and consultations with the individuals who benefit from infrastructure services, including, above all, women.

In today's episode of Masaha, we talk about the difficulties that women face as a result of poor infrastructure services, specifically the availability of safe public transportation and nurseries for children of workers, or lack thereof. We will examine the efforts conducted by SADAQA, an organization working towards improving the conditions of working women in Jordan. The guest of this episode is Sahar Al-Aloul from Jordan, in addition to a group of women from the region who talk to us about infrastructure services and the impact these have on their lives.

In its 2011 report, the United Nations Environment Program defines green economy as an economy that increases human well-being and helps create social equality, while significantly reducing environmental risks and resource scarcity.

Climate change witnessed by the world today has prompted many countries to seek to transition to green and environmentally friendly industries. This includes developing new technologies that are less dependent on carbon and pushing for comprehensive reforms in the energy and transportation sectors.

In transitioning to the green economy, thousands of new jobs will be created, but unfortunately, given the current situation, it will be unlikely that women will benefit from these opportunities on an equal basis with men.
In this episode of Masaha, we will talk about two Arab countries that are considered to be pioneers in the field of environmentally friendly policies that encourage investment in the green economy in the region, namely Jordan and Morocco. But what have these two countries done in this area? And what are the difficulties, opportunities and challenges that women face with regards to the green economy? The guests of this episode are Ruba Al Zoubi from Jordan and Samia El Baouchi from Tunisia.

In recent years, we began to hear conversations within feminist circles about intersectionality between different forms of oppression such as racism and sexism in shaping the realities of women. This concept which emerged in the late 1980s, was expressed in different ways several decades before. Intersectionality explains the different forms of discrimination and the way it intersects with gender, sexual orientation, social class, level of education, geographical location and other social, economic and political factors.

In today's episode of Masaha, we will talk about the different and intersecting forms of discrimination and oppression that two marginalized groups are subjected to in our societies, namely persons with disabilities and LGBTQ+ people, focusing on their conditions in Algeria and Lebanon, specifically within the labor market, and comparing these conditions with other countries in the region. The guests of this episode are Tarek Zeidan from Lebanon, and Aisha Zanai from Algeria.

On International Women's Day, we ask about the developments in the feminist movement in our region. The world is currently experiencing what is known as the fourth feminist wave, which is believed to have started less than ten years ago, and it is an extension of feminist activism that harnesses digital platforms to spread its discourse and to organize advocacy campaigns and cross-border solidarity. In this episode of Masaha we stand at the most important features of the fourth feminist wave in the Arab world, as well as the challenges it faces and the gains it has achieved to date.

The guests of this episode are Lina Abu Habib from Lebanon, Zeina Erhaim from Syria, and Suhair Asaad from Palestine.

Feminist movements built strategic alliances with various human rights and civil society actors and trade union to achieve gender justice. In this episode of Masaha, we explore the alliances that Jordanian feminists and women’s rights defenders have made with organizations outside of their circles, and the impact these had on achieving legal reforms. We also listen to feminist opinions about the prospects and obstacles of alliance building across the MENA Region. The guests of this episode are MP at the Jordanian House of Representatives Wafaa Bani Mustafa, Human Rights Consultant Hala Ahed, and gender and youth activist Reem Abdel Hadi.

This episode explores the current conditions that care workers in the MENA region are experiencing under the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on the increase in demand for both paid and unpaid care work and how this is placing unprecedented pressure on women across the region who already carry the burden of care work with limited to no support. A discussion on necessary reforms or feminist policy changes that would help in preventing the care crisis as well as adequately redistribute care work between states, the market, and the community takes place. The guests of this episode are Lina Abou Habib from Lebanon and Sahar Aloul from Jordan.

The ILO has identified migrant workers as particularly vulnerable due to the drastic measures being taken to slow down the coronavirus outbreak. The MENA region is the biggest contributor to the so-called global care chain, hosting the largest number of migrant domestic workers in the world, at 3.16 million in 2015 according to the ILO, the majority of whom are women. Yet, no country in the region has ratified the ILO’s Domestic Workers Convention no. 189 which aims to set labor standards that ensure decent work for domestic workers. This episode highlights the different challenges facing migrant domestic workers and explores possible policy responses that would decrease their vulnerability during the crisis as well as in the long-term. We talk to Zeina Mezher who works at the ILO in Lebanon and domestic worker living in Lebanon (who preferred to keep her identity anonymous) in this episode.

As lockdowns in the region continue, informal workers are facing more and more economic challenges. Over 60% of employed women in the region are in the informal sector. Many of whom are the sole providers of income in the household. These workers have lost their daily income. Without any form of social protection or health insurance to lift the burden of the health and economic crisis we are going through, they are at risk of sinking further into poverty. This episode explores through a gender lens the policy recommendation (or policy best practices) which ensure that informal workers are covered by adequate social security. These might include temporary and/or permanent social protection schemes that cover day laborers as well as seasonal workers. The guest in this episode is Mona Ezzat from Egypt.

In this special episode of the Masaha podcast, we briefly talk about the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence and provide an overview on its history.

The first United Nations World Conference on Women in Mexico in the mid-1970s called for the creation of national mechanisms for women. Since then, these mechanisms have made tangible impacts on the lives of women and girls in our region and around the world. However, many challenges prevent them from achieving full gender equality. In this episode of Masaha, we discuss these mechanisms and talk about the “Amman Principles,” a project by Solidarity is Global Institute - Jordan, and the “Political Feminism” programme of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The two guests of the episode are Mervat Rechmawi, a researcher in the field of human rights, and Dr. Salma Nims, president of the Jordanian National Commission for Women.