Homa Hoodfar's richly detailed ethnography provides a rare glimpse into the daily life of Arab Muslim families. Focusing on the impact of economic liberalization policies from 1983 to 1993, she shows the crucial role of the household in survival strategies among low-income Egyptians. Hoodfar, an Iranian Muslim by birth, presents research that undermines many of the stereotypes associated with traditional Muslim women. Their apparent conservatism, she says, is based on rational calculation of the costs and benefits of working within formal and informal labor markets to secure household power....

The issue of the hijab (veil) has been divisive for the Muslim community in North America. Muslims themselves see different meanings in covering their heads. The wider North American society also reacts in diverse ways to the Muslim veil; some read into the practice elements of oppression of women and extreme patriarchal attitudes. Others see it as a harmless mode of self-expression. Beginning in 1996, the Canadian Council of Muslim Women invited scholars from various fields to carry out a systematic study of issues surrounding different practices relating to the hijab among Muslims. This...