Arab Women in Wars: Struggle and Agency

The Centre for Arab Unity Studies has published a book titled Arab Women in Wars: Struggle and Agency, authored by a group of writers.

This book is published as part of the “Arab Women Amidst Wars and Conflicts” project, undertaken by the Lebanese Women Researchers Collective. It comprises four chapters—authored by Najla Hamadeh, Anissa Al-Amin Merhi, Jana Badran, Shawqi Al-Mousawi, and Mary Rose Zalzal—that examine the subject through the lenses of philosophy, psychoanalysis, economics, and law. The book sheds light on the lived realities of Arab women during wartime, highlighting their efforts to secure a livelihood, sustain life, and uphold collective dignity. The book explores the experiences of Arab women as the brutality of war ravages societies and shatters the frameworks that govern daily life—leaving deep emotional scars, prompting them to transcend the familiar and their own limitations, and inspiring acts of heroism and boundary-breaking often overlooked by official, patriarchal history.

War intensifies women’s suffering and multiplies their responsibilities; it may open avenues for new beginnings that reveal capabilities previously neither exercised nor even recognized, yet it may also inflict traumas beyond their capacity to endure, or cast them outside the social fold—or directly into its crosshairs.

Amidst the wars to which our societies are continually subjected, it was essential to shed light on the gender-specific dimensions of these conflicts—through coverage, assessment, and analysis. This approach serves as a means to improve, refine, and innovate methods and solutions that are—for our diverse Arab societies—more equitable, deeply insightful, and far-reaching in their scope and effectiveness.