Liberal outcomes through undemocratic means: the reform of the Code de statut personnel in Morocco

The 2004 reform of the family code in Morocco has been held as one of the most significant liberal reforms undertaken in the country, and has led scholars and policy makers to argue that this demonstrates the democratic progress Morocco and the King are making. At the same time, the role of the women's movement in getting the reform approved has seemingly confirmed that associational life is crucial in promoting democratisation. This paper, building on theoretical work questioning the linkage between a strong civil society and democratic outcomes, argues that civil society activism does not necessarily lead to democratisation, and may reinforce authoritarian practices. Far from demonstrating the centrality of civil society, the process through which the new family code was passed highlights the crucial institutional role of the monarch, whose individual decision-making power has driven the whole process. Authoritarianism finds itself strengthened in Morocco despite the liberal nature and outcome of the reform

Tunisia at the Forefront of the Arab World: Two Waves of Gender Legislation

Starting in the 1950s and ever since, Tunisia has implemented gender legislation expanding women\u27s rights in family law. The ground breaking phase occurred with the promulgation of the Code of Personal Status in the mid-1950s during the formation of a national state in the aftermath of independence from French colonial rule. Another major phase occurred in the 1990s with citizenship law reforms as embodied in the Tunisian Code of Nationality. As a result of these two major phases, Tunisia has been at the fore front of woman friendly legislative changes in the Arab- Muslim world and is widely recognized as such. At a time when issues of women\u27s rights are not only highly debated, but sometimes violently contested in Muslim countries, the Tunisian case requires examination. This Article documents the two major phases of reforms in favor of women\u27s rights in Tunisia and outlines the conditions that permitted or encouraged the continuity over the last half century. The first wave of reforms in the 1950s transformed the legal construction of gender roles within the family. The second wave in the 1990s redefined the conditions for the transmission of Tunisian citizenship. In painting social change in broad strokes, I analyze the initial and pioneering phase of the 1950s as a reform resulting from the actions of a newly formed national state interested in building a new society at the end of colonial rule. By contrast, the role of women\u27s agency came into play in Tunisia starting in the 1980s and became more robust in the 1990s. The evidence suggests that different political configurations can be conducive to reform in different periods

Vauvan päivä - toimintaa vauvan kanssa : Opas kuuden kuukauden ikäisten vauvojen vanhemmille

Kuuden kuukauden iässä vauva siirtyy kehityksessään vaiheeseen, jossa hänen oma-aloitteisuutensa, vuorovaikutuksensa ja liikkumisensa kehittyvät merkittävästi. Hän alkaa kiinnostumaan ympäristöstään uudella tavalla, harjoittelemaan istumista ja liikkumista ja saa ensikosketuksensa kiinteisiin ruokiin. Samalla hänen oma toimijuutensa ja osallisuutensa vahvistuvat. Vauvan kasvaessa ja kehittyessä vanhemmilla voi herätä epävarmuutta siitä, miten uudenlaisessa arjessa tulisi toimia ja millaisin keinoin lasta voisi parhaiten tukea. Vanhempien epävarmuutta on havaittu sekä tutkimuksissa, että käytännön toimintaterapiatyössä. Tämä projektimuotoinen opinnäytetyö sai alkunsa Helsingin kaupungin lasten toimintaterapeuttien tunnistettua tarpeen oppaalle, joka vastaisi vanhempien tiedontarpeeseen. Oppaan toivottiin vastaavan vauvaperheiden yleisimpiin kysymyksiin ja tarpeisiin mahdollisimman konkreettisella ja toiminnallisella tavalla. Tämän tarpeen pohjalta loimme oppaan, joka kokoaa yhteen keskeistä toimintaterapeuttista tietoa vauvan kehityksestä ja sen tukemisesta arjen tilanteissa. Sisältö on jäsennetty ns. "vauvan päivä" -muotoon, rakentuen vauvan yleisimpien perustoimintojen ympärille. Lisäksi oppaassa tuodaan esille vauvan kehitystä tukeva ja turvallinen fyysinen ympäristö, jonka merkitys korostuu erityisesti lapsen motoristen taitojen kehittyessä. Projektin kehitystavoitteena oli tukea vauvaperheiden arjen tilanteita helposti omaksuttavalla ja käytännönläheisellä tavalla. Oppaan sisällöllinen rakenne ja tietoperusta pohjautuvat PEO- ja CMOP-E-malleihin sekä ajankohtaiseen tutkimustietoon. Oppaan ensimmäisestä ja lopullisesta versiosta pyysimme palautetta palautekyselyillä. Saamiemme vastauksien perusteella kehitimme opasta ja arvioimme asettamiemme tavoitteiden ja laatukriteereiden toteutumista. Lopullinen opas sai hyvää palautetta ja sen koettiin vastaavan projektille asetettuihin tavoitteisiin ja laatukriteereihin. Oppaan laatukriteereitä olivat toiminnallisuus, informatiivisuus ja tutkittuun tietoon pohjautuminen. Kehitysideana ehdotamme kyselytutkimusta siitä, miten hyödylliseksi vanhemmat kokevat oppaan

Structure and stability in TMC-1: Analysis of NH3molecular line andHerschelcontinuum data

Aims. We examined the velocity, density, and temperature structure of Taurus molecular cloud-1 (TMC-1), a filamentary cloud in a nearby quiescent star forming area, to understand its morphology and evolution. Methods. We observed high signal-to-noise (S/N), high velocity resolution NH3(1,1), and (2, 2) emission on an extended map. By fitting multiple hyperfine-split line profiles to the NH3(1, 1) spectra, we derived the velocity distribution of the line components and calculated gas parameters on several positions. Herschel SPIRE far-infrared continuum observations were reduced and used to calculate the physical parameters of the Planck Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCCs) in the region, including the two in TMC-1. The morphology of TMC-1 was investigated with several types of clustering methods in the parameter space consisting of position, velocity, and column density. Results. Our Herschel-based column density map shows a main ridge with two local maxima and a separated peak to the south-west. The H2 column densities and dust colour temperatures are in the range of 0.5−3.3 × 1022 cm−2 and 10.5−12 K, respectively. The NH3 column densities and H2 volume densities are in the range of 2.8−14.2 × 1014 cm−2 and 0.4−2.8 × 104 cm−3. Kinetic temperatures are typically very low with a minimum of 9 K at the maximum NH3 and H2 column density region. The kinetic temperature maximum was found at the protostar IRAS 04381+2540 with a value of 13.7 K. The kinetic temperatures vary similarly to the colour temperatures in spite of the fact that densities are lower than the critical density for coupling between the gas and dust phase. The k-means clustering method separated four sub-filaments in TMC-1 with masses of 32.5, 19.6, 28.9, and 45.9 Mo and low turbulent velocity dispersion in the range of 0.13−0.2 km s−1. Conclusions. The main ridge of TMC-1 is composed of four sub-filaments that are close to gravitational equilibrium. We label these TMC-1F1 through F4. The sub-filaments TMC-1F1, TMC-1F2, and TMC-1F4 are very elongated, dense, and cold. TMC-1F3 is a little less elongated and somewhat warmer, and probably heated by the Class I protostar, IRAS 04381+2540, which is embedded in it. TMC-1F3 is approximately 0.1 pc behind TMC1-F1. Because of its structure, TMC-1 is a good target to test filament evolution scenarios

The Patriarchal Bargain in a Context of Rapid Changes to Normative Gender Roles: Young Arab Women’s Role Conflict in Qatar

Social norms in patriarchal countries in the Middle East are changing at differing rates. In Qatar, expectations about education have shifted, and women’s participation in higher education is normative. However, women’s participation in the workforce remains relatively low, and women still are expected to perform all household and child-rearing activities. Interviews with 27 18–25 year-old Qatari women enrolled in college in Qatar are used to illustrate the conflict between norms about education, workforce, and family. Many young women resolve this normative conflict by giving preference to family over work and education. Other women hold conflicting norms and goals for their future without acknowledging the normative conflict. Overall, young women in this sample feared divorce, were uncertain about customary family safety nets, and thus desired financial independence so they would be able to support themselves if they were left alone later in life due to divorce, or the death of their husband. The Qatari government should revisit the appropriateness of continuing to emphasize the patriarchal family structure and socially conservative family norms, if they desire to advance women in their society

Determining the number of clusters in CROKI2 algorithm

One of the major problems in clustering is the needof specifying the optimal number of clusters in someclustering algorithms. Some block clusteringalgorithms suffer from the same limitation that thenumber of clusters needs to be specified by a humanuser. This problem has been subject of wide research.Numerous indices were proposed in order to findreasonable number of clusters. In this paper, we aim toextend the use of these indices to block clusteringalgorithms. Therefore, an exami nation of some indicesfor determining the number of clusters in CROKI2algorithm is conducted on both real data extractedfrom Metz web site and synthetic data sets beinggenerated according to a methodology that will beexplained later. The purpose of the paper is to test theperformance and ability of some indices to detect theproper number of clusters on rows and columns and tocompare our new index with some other indexes

From Islamic Feminism to a Muslim Holistic Feminism

This article looks at the trajectory from secular feminism to Islamic feminism to Muslim holistic feminism, examining the changing meanings of ‘the secular’ and ‘the religious’ and the ways they intersect in the different modes of feminism. It contrasts the open, inclusive nature that typifies the secular feminisms Muslim and non?Muslims created in the twentieth century in contexts of anti?colonial struggle and early nation?state building with the communalism of the new Muslim holistic feminism now emerging in global space at a time when religious identity is fore?fronted and there is an international preoccupation with Muslim women's rights. The article argues that the communalisation of women's rights activism or the privileging of Muslim women's rights occurring at the global level and being exported to local terrain can be divisive and threatening national unity