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Abstract
This article analyzes contemporary state discourse on women’s empowerment in Qatar as embodied in state documents, government-run public relations campaigns, and the media output of state-run or state-sanctioned institutions. Through the lens of critical discourse analysis, the article demonstrates how the Qatari state’s political rhetoric conflates women’s professional advancement with national progress and constructs the “ideal Qatari woman” as a neoliberal feminist subject. With particular attention to the rhetoric found in the state-run magazine Q Life, the article argues that the Qatari state is promoting a model of women’s empowerment that merges transnational paradigms of neoliberal feminism with nationalist ideals of loyalty and patriotism and presents the ideal “Qatari woman” as a neoliberal feminist subject who contributes to her state’s national development through her own professional development and fulfillment.
Notes
1 Al-Rasheed, A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics, and Religion in Saudi Arabia (2013); Bristol-Rhys, Emirati Women: Generations of Change (2016); Golkowska, “Qatari Women Navigating Gendered Space”, Social Sciences 6.4 (2017); Liloia, “Gender and Nation Building in Qatar: Qatari Women Negotiate Modernity”, JMEWS 15.3 (2019); James-Hawkins, Qutteina, and Yount, “The Patriarchal Bargain in a Context of Rapid Changes to Normative Gender Roles”, Sex Roles 77. 3–4 (2017); Limbert, In the Time of Oil (2010); Mitchell et al., “In Majaalis Al-Hareem: The Complex Professional and Personal Choices of Qatari Women”, DIFI Family Research and Proceedings 4 (2014); González, Islamic Feminism in Kuwait (2013); Le Renard, A Society of Young Women: Opportunities of Place, Power, and Reform in Saudi Arabia (2014); Pandya, Muslim Women and Islamic Resurgence: Religion, Education and Identity Politics in Bahrain (2013).
2 James-Hawkins, Qutteina, and Yount, “The Patriarchal Bargain”; Liloia, “Gender and Nation Building in Qatar”; Mitchell et al., “In Majaalis Al-Hareem”; Bahry and Marr, “Qatari Women: A New Generation of Leaders?”, Middle East Policy 12.2 (2005); Golkowska, “Qatari Women Navigating Gendered Space”.
3 Al-Rasheed, The Son King: Reform and Repression in Saudi Arabia (2020), pp. 256–70.
4 Eisenstein, “Hegemonic Feminism, Neoliberalism and Womenomics: ‘Empowerment’ Instead of Liberation?”, New Formations 91 (2017), p. 37.
5 Brown, Edgework: Critical Essays on Knowledge and Politics (2003), pp. 39–40.
6 Rottenberg, “The Rise of Neoliberal Feminism”, Cultural Studies 28.3 (2014), p. 419.
7 Prügl, “Neoliberalising Feminism”, New Political Economy 20.4 (2015).
8 The concept of “leaning in” was popularized by Sheryl Sandberg.
9 Prügl, “Neoliberalising Feminism”, p. 620.
10 Eisenstein, “Hegemonic Feminism”, p. 37.
11 Roberts, “The Political Economy of ‘Transnational Business Feminism’”, International Feminist Journal of Politics 17.2 (2015), p. 209.
12 Ibid., p. 209.
13 Hanieh, Capitalism and Class in the Gulf Arab States (2011); Kanna, Dubai, the City as Corporation (2011); Vitalis, America’s Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier (2006).
14 Hanieh, Capitalism and Class, pp. 16, 25–26.
15 Mehran Kamrava, Qatar: Small State, Big Politics (2013), p. 141.
16 Mansour, “Public Policy and Privatisation: The Case of the Qatari Experience”, Public Administration and Development 27.4 (2007), p. 291.
17 Ibid., p. 291.
18 Bahry and Marr, “Qatari Women”.
19 World Bank, “School Enrollment, Tertiary, Female (% Gross) ” (2020); World Bank, “School Enrollment, Tertiary, Male (% Gross) - Qatar” (2020).
20 World Bank, ““Labor Force Participation Rate, Female (% of Female Population Ages 15+) (Modeled ILO Estimate) - Qatar” (2020); World Bank, “Labor Force Participation Rate, Male (% of Male Population Ages 15+) (Modeled ILO Estimate) - Qatar” (2020).
21 Qatar Planning and Statistics Authority, “Labor Force Sample Survey 2018” (June 2019), p. 10.
22 Al-Subaiey, “Qatarization - Implementation Challenges”, Brookings Doha Center (2016).
23 Blaydes, Gengler, and Lari, “Understanding Cultural Constraints to Female Labor Force Participation: How Family Dynamics Influence Women’s Employment in Qatar and the Arab Gulf States”, presented at Association for Analytic Learning about Islam and Muslim Societies Conference (2021), p. 32.
24 Aldosari, “The Personal Is Political: Gender Identity in the Personal Status Laws of the Gulf Arab States”, The Arab Gulf States Institute Washington, 29 August 2016.
25 Ibid., p. 10; State of Qatar, “Law No. 22 of 2006 Promulgating ‘The Family Law’ 22/2006”, Al Meezan Qatar Legal Portal, 29 June 2006, Articles 12, 17.
26 Human Rights Watch, “‘Everything I Have to Do Is Tied to a Man’: Women and Qatar’s Male Guardianship Rules”, 29 March 2021.
27 Ibid.
28 Golkowska, “Qatari Women Navigating Gendered Space”, p. 2.
29 State of Qatar, “Law No. 22 of 2006 Promulgating ‘The Family Law’ 22/2006”, Article 68.
30 Ibid., Article 69.
31 Human Rights Watch, “World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Qatar”, 17 January 2019.
32 Cousins, “Migrant Workers Can’t Afford a Lockdown”, Foreign Policy, 8 August 2020.
33 Snoj, “Population of Qatar by Nationality in 2019”, Priya DSouza Communications, 15 August 2019.
34 Qatar Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics, “National Development Planning and Implementation: Human Development, Sustainable Development and National Well-Being” (July 2014), p. 10.
35 Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, Qatar National Development Strategy (2011), p. 165.
36 For a detailed analysis of the ways that exclusivist and racialized citizenship paradigms and legal structures privilege nationals and marginalize migrant workers, see: Ahmad, Everyday Conversions: Islam, Domestic Work, and South Asian Migrant Women in Kuwait (2017).
37 Dijk (ed.), Discourse Studies: A Multidisciplinary Introduction (2011); Lazar, “Politicizing Gender in Discourse: Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis as Political Perspective and Praxis”, in Lazar (ed.), Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis: Gender, Power and Ideology in Discourse (2005); Mullet, “A General Critical Discourse Analysis Framework for Educational Research”, Journal of Advanced Academics 29.2 (2018); Fairclough, “Critical Discourse Analysis and the Marketization of Public Discourse: The Universities”, in Fairclough (ed.), Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language (2010); Fairclough (ed.), Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language (2010); Cameron, Working with Spoken Discourse (2001).
38 Fairclough, “Critical Discourse Analysis and the Marketization of Public Discourse”, p. 131.
39 Ibid., 132.
40 Eisenstein, “Hegemonic Feminism”, p. 37.
41 Rottenberg, “The Rise of Neoliberal Feminism”, p. 420.
42 Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, “Qatar National Vision 2030” (July 2008); Qatar Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics, Qatar Second National Development Strategy 2018–2022 (September 2018); Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, Qatar National Development Strategy 2011–2016.
43 Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, “Qatar National Vision”, pp. 19, 22.
44 Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, Qatar National Development Strategy 2011–2016, p. 17.
45 Ibid., pp. 17, 18.
46 Ibid., p. 146.
47 Qatar Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics, “Second National Development Strategy”, p. 198.
48 Ibid., p. 220; see also State of Qatar, “Law No. 8 of 2009 on Human Resources Management”, Al Meezan Qatar Legal Portal, 2 April 2009, pp. 108–109.
49 Qatar Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics, “Second National Development Strategy”, pp. 219, 202.
50 Ibid., pp. 199, 221.
51 State of Qatar, “Law No. 12 of 2004 on Private Associations and Foundations”, Al Meezan Qatar Legal Portal, 6 September 2004.
52 Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, “Qatari Businesswomen Forum”, Qatari Businesswomen Forum Facebook, 2 September 2020.
53 Qatar Businesswomen Association, “Qatar Businesswomen Association - About Us” (2019).
54 Ibid.
55 Ibid.
56 Qatar Businesswomen Association, “QBWA Takreem Awards – QBWA”, 12 June 2019.
57 The Peninsula Qatar, “Women of the Year Awards on October 30”, The Peninsula Qatar, 25 October 2017.
58 Doha Women Forum website (2020).
59 Ibid.
60 Ibid.
61 Marhaba, “W Doha Celebrates International Women’s Day with What She Said”, Marhaba, 18 March 2019.
62 State of Qatar, “Law No. 8 of 2009”, Articles 108–109.
63 Gulf Daily News Online, “Qatar: Divorce Rates on the Rise in Qatar”, 24 January 2017; Khatri, “Qataris Debate Merits of Gender Segregation at School”, Medium, 18 March 2017; Bahry and Marr, “Qatari Women”, p. 114; Qatar Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics, “Marriage & Divorce in the State of Qatar 2017” (2018), pp. 8, 11.
64 Qatar Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics, “Second National Development Strategy”, p. 220.
65 Q Life, “Q Life - About”, 2 September 2020.
66 Qatar Government Communications Office, “Q Life Magazine”, 2 September 2020.
67 Q Life, “Q Life - About”.
68 Q Life, “Celebrating Qatari Women 2018”, 8 March 2018.
69 Translations of Arabic quotes match the video subtitles.
70 Q Life, “International Women’s Day 2019” (2019).
71 Q Life, “Doaa Al Fayadh: Inspiring Societal Change from Within”, 1 December 2018.
72 Q Life, “Dr Salwa Abuyaqoub: Social and Economic Advancement of Women without Any Gender Discrimination Is a Priority in Qatar’s Policies”, 1 December 2018.
73 Q Life, “Teach for Qatar Fellow Nayla Al Thani Is Inspired by the Hardworking Local Women She Encounters”, 1 December 2018.
74 Q Life, “Aisha Al Naama: An Inspiring Adventurer with a Mission of Positively Impacting the Women of Qatar”, 1 December 2018.
75 Q Life, “Like Mother, like Daughter - Muneera and Dalal Al Romaihi”, 23 April 2020; Q Life, “When Nutrition Meets Ambition - Layla Al Dorani”, 31 July 2020; Q Life, “#MyVision - Social Development”, 3 October 2019; Q Life, “The Young Qatari Designers Initiative: Sara Al Hammadi”, 26 June 2018.
76 Q Life, “There Is No ‘One Size Fits All’ Approach in Business”, 2 November 2018.
77 Q Life, “Doaa Al Fayadh”.
78 Q Life, “Rawan Hasanain: Building a Generation of Conscious and Cultured Mothers”, 1 December 2018.
79 Q Life, “Teach for Qatar Fellow Nayla Al Thani”.
80 Q Life, “Maha Al Ansari: ‘I Truly Believe That We as Qataris Are the Luckiest Citizens in the World’” (2019).
81 Q Life, “Dr Salwa Abuyaqoub”.
82 Q Life, “Shooting for the Stars - Bahiya Al Hamad”, 26 October 2018.
83 Q Life, “Rawan Hasanain”.
84 Q Life, “Dr Salwa Abuyaqoub”.
85 Q Life, “#Trailblazer: A Role Model for Aspiring Female Doctors”, 19 December 2018.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Alainna Liloia
Alainna Liloia completed her PhD in Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona in December of 2022, [email protected].