Personal status laws in Morocco and Tunisia: A comparative exploration of the possibilities for equality-enhancing reform in Bangladesh

This paper focuses on successful reform strategies invoked in parts of the Muslim world to address issues of gender inequality in the context of Islamic personal law. It traces the development of personal status laws in Tunisia and Morocco, exploring the models they offer in initiating equality-enhancing reforms in Bangladesh, where a secular and equality-based reform approach conflicts with Islamic-based conservatism. Recent landmark family law reforms in Morocco show the possibility of achieving ‘women-friendly’ reforms within an Islamic legal framework. Moreover, the Tunisian Personal Status Code, with its successive reforms, shows that a gender equality-based model of personal law can be successfully integrated into the Muslim way of life. This study examines the response of Muslim societies to equality-based reforms and differences in approach in initiating them. The paper maps these sometimes competing approaches, locating them within contemporary feminist debates related to gender equality in the East and West.

Recognition of "difference" in Shari'a: a feminist scrutiny through the lens of substantive equality

The paper looks at the works of notable Islamic feminists to examine whether Islam can be reconciled with a substantive approach to gender equality. Located within contemporary feminist debates related to gender equality, it considers the Qur’anic verses related to two controversial areas of Shari’a law, namely, duty of obedience and polygamy, to explore how Islamic scriptures perceive ‘difference’ and its implications for substantive equality-based legal reforms in a Muslim society.

Regulating working families in the European Union: a history of disjointed strategies

Families in market economies worldwide have long been confronted with the demands of participating in paid work and providing care for their dependent members. The social, economic and political contexts within which families do so differ from country to country but an increasing number of governments are being asked to engage, or better engage, with this important area of public policy. What seems like a relatively simple goal – to enable families to better balance care-giving and paid employment – has raised several difficulties and dilemmas for policy makers which have been approached in different ways. This paper aims to identify and critique the nature and development of the means by which legal engagement with work-family reconciliation has, historically, been framed in the European Union. In doing so, and with reference to specific cohorts of workers, we demonstrate how disjointed the strategies are in relation to working carers and argue that the EU is unlikely to provide the legal framework necessary to bring about effective change in this fundamentally important area of social policy.

Pedagoger i det sociala uppdragets gränstrakter : Att hantera familjerättsliga processer, hot och våld

Pedagogues in the borderland of their social task: dealing with family law proceedings, threats and violence Drawing upon an explorative study of family law proceedings from a school perspective, the aim of this paper is to examine the school staff’s strategies for solving or coping with problematic situations in this context. Gendered conflicts between adults and violence are extreme cases for pedagogues in school and preschool. How do the staff cope with their own and the children’s vulnerability? Based upon interviews with 22 informants, the staff’s strategies are outlined and discussed in relation to organizational and professional circumstances and intersecting social relations of power. An analytical construction of six types of proactive and reactive strategies, ranging from distance keeping to normalization of own exposure, is utilized in the analysis. Findings suggest that the staff’s strategies to handle challenging events in this context vary with the parent’s gender, class position and ethnicity. Further, it is argued that creating a sense of safety and promoting learning among the children may be obstructed by lack of support from the school’s organization, demands on staff to perform customer oriented attitudes towards parents and lack of clarity concerning the limits of the social task. Conflicts between the organization and profession on the one hand and the educational and the social task on the other hand, are thus illuminated. In conclusion, a further aim of this article is to contribute to broader discussions on men’s violence against women and children – in families as well as in workplaces and in the intersection between these two areas. 

Conciliação: a solução da lide e a celeridade na prestação jurisdicional

Esta obra tem como tema central a conciliação como método contemporâneo de solução dos conflitos, notadamente nas Varas de Família de Porto Velho/RO. Os métodos alternativos de solução de controvérsias surgem como opção eficaz ao jurisdicionado, em atenção ao clamor da sociedade por uma prestação jurisdicional mais célere. A utilização deste método visa oferecer e assegurar uma melhor e efetiva solução de conflitos à população, fugindo assim dos modelos tradicionais de resoluções de conflitos. O objetivo é procurar demonstrar que, além da jurisdição estatal, existem outros meios de pacificação social, os quais também colocam fim às controvérsias e realizam a justiça. Destaque-se que mecanismos alternativos objetivam não somente oferecer uma prestação jurisdicional mais célere à sociedade, mas também verdadeira pacificação social; além do que, oportunizam também a resolução do conflito antes que seja instaurada qualquer demanda judicial, desafogando assim o Judiciário. Enfatiza-se a importância da conciliação nas matérias concernentes ao direito de família, já que nesta área há preocupação fundamental com a preservação emocional das partes. E dada a carga emocional que circundam as ações dessa natureza, muitas vezes ao juiz é impossível encontrar uma resposta adequada e definitiva para os problemas que lhes são apresentados pelas partes. Os resultados demonstram que a conciliação nas Varas de Família de Porto Velho/RO têm se revelado um mecanismo célere e eficaz, na busca da resolução de conflitos e pacificação social. Os profissionais e operadores do direito têm consciência da importância de sua aplicação.