In 1957, Henny Harald Hansen, the first Danish female anthropologist, was invited to take part in an archaeological expedition to the site of the projected Dokan Dam on the Little Zab river in Northern Iraq. Although her responsibilities were originally ethnological, she became the guest first of the local sheik and later of her interpreter’s family and as a result, the doors of many Kurdish homes were opened to her that normally would have remained closed to foreigners. She travelled widely among the mountain villages of Iraqi Kurdistan and was able to see from very close range the...

First published in 1980, this book looks at the factors which influenced the position held by women in the United Arab Emirates in the second half of the 20^th century. It argues that Islamic Law has granted women rights and privileges in the spheres of family life, marriage, education and economic pursuits, which aim at improving their status in society. However, due to the interpretations of various religious scholars, influenced by local traditions and social trends, women have often not been given these rights, particularly in family life and marriage.

In contrast,...

In Yemen, where current poverty is combined with a rich cultural heritage, the distinctions between the traditional and the modern are particularly difficult.

First published in 1979, this is a study of social change as experienced and perceived by the women of San’a, the capital city of North Yemen. It presents a synthesised view of the process of change rather than focusing on the issues of exploitation and emancipation, and draws upon observations of women’s daily routine and ritual activities as well as the media and the provocative insights of Yemeni poets.

The...

First published in 1983, this edited collection is based on contributions at a Scandinavian symposium on the place of women in Islamic society. It offers perspectives which illuminate our understanding of social relationships and structures pertaining to a vast number of the world’s population dispersed throughout Asia and Africa. Sociological and anthropological investigations of social organization and the behavioural patterns provided in these papers demonstrate that the status of women, their rights, duties and control over property, their body, the degree of seclusion and veiling,...

In 1957, Henny Harald Hansen, the first Danish female anthropologist, was invited to take part in an archaeological expedition to the site of the projected Dokan Dam on the Little Zab river in Northern Iraq. Although her responsibilities were originally ethnological, she became the guest first of the local sheik and later of her interpreter’s family and as a result, the doors of many Kurdish homes were opened to her that normally would have remained closed to foreigners. She travelled widely among the mountain villages of Iraqi Kurdistan and was able to see from very close range the...