Lebanese Women at the Crossroads is an incisive intervention into a series of questions that Nelia Hyndman-Rizk calls the “women’s rights puzzle” in Lebanon (114): Why is women’s political representation so low in Lebanon? Why is women’s participation in the labor force relatively thin, even though they are highly educated in aggregate? Why can Lebanese women not pass Lebanese citizenship on to their children? In facing these questions, Hyndman-Rizk asks whether introducing a secular nationality and civic marriage law would solve the many legal, political, social, and economic contradictions that women face in Lebanon. Although it would not be a panacea, it would nevertheless guarantee that “citizenship status will be absolute, irrespective of sect or gender, rather than relational based upon sect and gender” (114).
The first part of the book, “Formations” (introd.–chap. 3), is a broad overview (based on original research and a wide range of secondary sources) of...
