In this session, Professor Deniz Kandiyoti discusses women's movements and gender activism in the Middle East and North Africa, as part of the inaugural event of the Fred Halliday Award and the Barcelona Summer School of the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Today, struggles for gender equality are at the heart of democratization movements in the Middle East and North Africa. In some states of this region, during the second half of the 20th century, a state feminism linked to the mandate of reformist leaders such as Ataturk, Bourguiba or Nasser was promoted, but factors such as economic liberalization, the resurrection of Islamic movements or the geopolitical upheavals after 9/11, reshaped society and the state, transforming also this initial phase of the women's movement. Professor Deniz Kandiyoti will speak in this session on the evolution of these movements and the new stage of gender demands initiated with the Arab uprisings of a decade ago.

This event will also include the inauguration of the Fred Halliday Award, which commemorates the figure of the Professor of International Relations and collaborator of the CCCB, and which will be dedicated to supporting outstanding academics who devote their research to the study of the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

The event inaugurates the first edition of the Barcelona Summer School of the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

The Barcelona Summer School of the Mediterranean and the Middle East is a joint initiative of IBEI and Blanquerna University. The School includes interactive roundtables focused on the various policy challenges the two regions face.