Doctoral Dissertation Research: Shifting Gender Relations and the Transformation of the Social Spaces of Moroccan Women

关于妇女的地位和处境存在着许多陈规定型观念。例如，在美国和其他“西方”国家，阿拉伯国家的妇女经常被认为她们的身份主要是由伊斯兰教构建或影响的。这种假设的必然结果是，所有阿拉伯人都是穆斯林，所有穆斯林都是阿拉伯人，穆斯林妇女比“西方”妇女更受压迫，更不受解放。这种对阿拉伯世界极其复杂和多样的历史和人民的极端过度简化，使该地区和其他地区的国家之间存在误解和无知的局面。这个博士论文研究项目将调查摩洛哥妇女在法国和摩洛哥城市地区的空间实践和身份策略的基本过程。该研究将侧重于了解来自不同社会经济状况的摩洛哥妇女如何以不同方式使用空间，以及家庭和城市地区的权力和性别关系如何共同影响她们在不同地方的流动性、日常空间实践和身份策略。本研究中使用的空间实践概念是指女性以不同的方式占据和移动空间的方式，例如。和同伴一起去咖啡馆，结伴散步，乘坐出租车而不是公共汽车，在特定的公园里社交，晚上避开街道。身份策略指的是女性可能调动其身份的某些方面的方式，例如强调或淡化特定的着装规范、女性气质的概念、种族或阶级问题以及政治联盟。本研究的比较方面将考虑不同的国家文化和社会经济背景（法国与摩洛哥，贫穷与非贫穷）对摩洛哥妇女流动程度和模式的影响。在法国蒙彼利埃和摩洛哥拉巴特工作，将采用定性研究方法收集关于少数摩洛哥妇女日常生活的原始数据。通过在几个不同场合与数量有限的摩洛哥家庭的男女成员合作，将深入深入的访谈与时间地理日记相结合。将收集所有受访者的时间地理信息。访谈将与时间地理一起进行分析，以了解影响法国和摩洛哥城市地区妇女流动、空间实践和身份战略的过程。这些数据将由每日参与者观察和实地记录、档案记录、报纸和统计资料补充。这项研究将有助于目前围绕位置和流动性在现代性别认同建构中所起作用的问题进行的理论辩论。它将揭示女性生活环境的不同特征如何影响她们的空间行为和身份。了解影响摩洛哥妇女在法国和摩洛哥的空间实践和身份策略的因素，将有助于深入了解这些妇女如何理解自己的现代生活，从而使她们能够应对当代城市生活的压力和矛盾。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

Many stereotypes exist regarding the status and situation of women. Within the U.S. and other "western" nations, for example, women in Arab nations frequently are assumed to have their identities primarily constructed or influenced by Islam. Corollaries to this assumption are views that all Arabs are Muslim, that all Muslims are Arab, and that Muslim women are more oppressed and less emancipated than their "western" counterparts. This extreme oversimplification of the vastly complex and diverse histories and people in the Arab world perpetuates a situation of misunderstanding and ignorance between countries of the region and elsewhere. This doctoral dissertation research project will investigate the processes underlying Moroccan women's spatial practices and identity strategies in urban areas in France and Morocco. The study will focus on understanding how Moroccan women from different socioeconomic situations use space differently and how power and gender relations in households and urban areas come together to influence their mobilities, daily spatial practices, and identity strategies in different places. The concept of spatial practices as used in this study refer to the ways that women occupy and move through spaces in different ways, such as. using chaperons to go to cafes, walking in groups, using taxis as opposed to buses, socializing in particular parks, and avoiding streets at night. Identity strategies pertain to ways that women may mobilize certain aspects of their identity, such as accentuating or downplaying particular codes of dress, notions of femininity, questions of ethnicity or class, and political alliances. The comparative aspect of this research will allow for a consideration of the ways in which different national-cultural and socioeconomic contexts (France vs. Morocco, poor vs. non-poor) affect the degree and modes of Moroccan women's mobilities. Working in Montpellier, France, and Rabat, Morocco, qualitative research methods will be employed to gather primary data on a small number of Moroccan women's daily lives. Intensive in-depth interviews will be combined with time-geography diaries by working with female and male members of a limited number of Moroccan households on several different occasions. Time-geographies will be collected from all individuals interviewed. Interviews will be analyzed alongside time-geographies in an effort to understand the processes that influence women's mobilities, spatial practices, and identity strategies in urban areas in both France and Morocco. These data will be supplemented with daily participant observation and field notes, archival records, newspapers, and statistical sources. This study will contribute to theoretical debates currently taking place around questions of the role that place and mobility play in the construction of modern gender identities. It will shed light on the ways that different characteristics of the settings where women live influences their spatial behavior and identities. Understanding the factors that influence Moroccan women's spatial practices and identity strategies in France and Morocco will provide insight into how these women understand their own modern lives in a way that allows them to cope with the pressures and contradictions of contemporary urban life. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.