Women’s Issues in Maghrebi Reformist Discourse during the Colonial Period: Between Renewal and Conservatism

Abstract

This research paper examines the problem of women’s issues in Maghrebi reformist discourse during the colonial period, focusing geographically on Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. It sheds light on the two contrasting intellectual positions towards these issues: the emancipatory, reformative, and Enlightenment movement on the one hand, and the conservative reformist movement on the other. The study rests upon two primary axes: the first traces the question of women’s education as a vehicle for civilisational advancement and confronting colonialism, whilst the second analyses the intense intellectual and jurisprudence debate surrounding the 'dialectic of the veil (hijab) and unveilment (sufur)'. The paper concludes that the reformist movement succeeded in formulating a centrist approach that established women as a fundamental pillar of societal transformation without detaching them from their Islamic identity.