From Protest to Progress: A study on the association between the Arab Spring and women's empowerment in Jordan

Abstract

The Arab Spring was a set of political uprisings, taking place in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region starting in 2011. The motive of the initial protests stemmed from people’s desire for democratic rights, however, some of the protests that followed were driven more by aspirations of economic stability. Although women’s rights were not the primary incentive for the uprisings, it leaves the question of whether women’s status and empowerment had been affected as a result of the political transitions. Several studies have been conducted in the MENA region, examining the potential effects of the Arab Spring on attitudes toward gender equality and women’s economic status. This thesis examines the association between the Arab Spring and women’s empowerment in Jordan. Specifically, women’s empowerment is measured through women’s agency, which is defined as the ability to articulate and pursue goals. The results are retrieved by using DHS data and creating two indices that aim to capture and measure Jordanian women’s agency. Regressions are run on the estimated models, which controls for differences within various groups, such as age groups and geographical locations. The results suggest a positive association between the Arab Spring and women’s empowerment, which somewhat contrasts with findings from other studies made within the field of research. It was also found that younger age groups hold slightly more conservative views towards women’s empowerment, compared to older age groups. Further, the results suggest significant disparities between geographical locations within the country only for one of the indices.