THE PALESTINIAN WOMEN'S AUTONOMOUS MOVEMENT

Abstract

This article examines the Palestinian women's autonomous movement that emerged in the early 1990s, emphasizing changes in the sociopolitical context to account for the movement's emergence, dynamics, and challenges. Using interviews obtained during fieldwork in Palestine in 1992, 1993, and 1994, and employing historical and archival records, I argue that Palestinian feminist discourses were shaped and influenced by the sociopolitical context in which Palestinian women acted and with which they interacted. The multiplicity of views voiced by the women I interviewed attests to the impossibility of homogenizing and flattening women's experiences, while the range of actions and strategies employed by different groups and organizations calls attention to contextual limitations on social action.