{"id":{"repo_id":"uwo","oai_identifier":"oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/36664"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uwo/oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/36664","repository":{"repo_id":"uwo","name":"Western University","base_url":"https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The Money of Qaroon and the Patience of Ayoub: Women and Land in Egypt's Mubarak Resettlement Scheme","abstract":"This dissertation addresses the challenge of achieving increased empowerment and equality for Egyptian women. The dissertation tests the assumption that land access (through both joint and full titles) increases empowerment and equality for women in two desert resettlements of Sa’yda and Intilaq, part of the massive Mubarak Resettlement Scheme (MRS). In particular, the dissertation identifies: 1) how land access could empower Egyptian women and 2) women’s experiences with land access in the MRS. Findings reveal that land access is indeed the most promising route for women’s advancement in life, but the desert land required patience and financial assets. Land access, however, is not ubiquitously empowering as has been argued by many scholars. The dissertation showed, for example, that joint titles did not increase women’s ability to overcome inequalities. Women landholders of both title types experienced resistance from government officials and family members to capture opportunities provided to them through land access. The dissertation asserts that inequalities and injustices are reproduced in the MRS. Women landholders and other poor settlers were provided with the most marginal lands in the MRS and had to endure inadequate planning, limited access to basic services, and empty promises. Settlers, including women, resisted government’s weak policies by covert (rumours, gossip, and passive non-compliance) and overt ways (open protest and defiance), increasingly after the Revolution of January 25. In response, the state participated in settlers’ resistance, turned a blind eye to it, or legalized it to generate profit and please the angry crowds. The study confirms an interdependent household model for Egyptian families. Women did not aspire to opt outside their households, as has been advocated for by many scholars; rather, women landholders aimed to provide for their husbands and children. Long term sustainability of women’s access to land is seriously challenged by women landholders’ plans to bequest property mostly to their sons. The study also highlights the importance of relying on site-specific and locally relevant scientific knowledge for farming marginal lands, which is common to many parts of the world due to population pressures. Provision of land to women has the potential to be empowering, provided that policymakers also consider gender relations, land subjectivities, micro-credit, marketing, scientific research in desert conditions, adherence to promised policies, and patriarchy. In analyzing planners’ agendas and officials’ implementation through the lens of local women’s experiences, this study opens up new ways to systemically understand the links among empowerment, gender, and land access in the Middle East.","abstract_html":"This dissertation addresses the challenge of achieving increased empowerment and equality for Egyptian women. The dissertation tests the assumption that land access (through both joint and full titles) increases empowerment and equality for women in two desert resettlements of Sa’yda and Intilaq, part of the massive Mubarak Resettlement Scheme (MRS). In particular, the dissertation identifies: 1) how land access could empower Egyptian women and 2) women’s experiences with land access in the MRS. Findings reveal that land access is indeed the most promising route for women’s advancement in life, but the desert land required patience and financial assets. Land access, however, is not ubiquitously empowering as has been argued by many scholars. The dissertation showed, for example, that joint titles did not increase women’s ability to overcome inequalities. Women landholders of both title types experienced resistance from government officials and family members to capture opportunities provided to them through land access. The dissertation asserts that inequalities and injustices are reproduced in the MRS. Women landholders and other poor settlers were provided with the most marginal lands in the MRS and had to endure inadequate planning, limited access to basic services, and empty promises. Settlers, including women, resisted government’s weak policies by covert (rumours, gossip, and passive non-compliance) and overt ways (open protest and defiance), increasingly after the Revolution of January 25. In response, the state participated in settlers’ resistance, turned a blind eye to it, or legalized it to generate profit and please the angry crowds. The study confirms an interdependent household model for Egyptian families. Women did not aspire to opt outside their households, as has been advocated for by many scholars; rather, women landholders aimed to provide for their husbands and children. Long term sustainability of women’s access to land is seriously challenged by women landholders’ plans to bequest property mostly to their sons. The study also highlights the importance of relying on site-specific and locally relevant scientific knowledge for farming marginal lands, which is common to many parts of the world due to population pressures. Provision of land to women has the potential to be empowering, provided that policymakers also consider gender relations, land subjectivities, micro-credit, marketing, scientific research in desert conditions, adherence to promised policies, and patriarchy. In analyzing planners’ agendas and officials’ implementation through the lens of local women’s experiences, this study opens up new ways to systemically understand the links among empowerment, gender, and land access in the Middle East.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Najjar, Dina"],"institution":"The University of Western Ontario","degree_name":"Ph D","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Anthropology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Dan Jorgensen"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-09-19","date_published":"2013-09-19","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:56:11Z","subjects":["women and land rights","Mubarak Resettlement Scheme","scientific knowledge in development","gender relations","resistance","neoliberalism"],"languages":["en_ca"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/36664","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Dan Jorgensen"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Najjar, Dina"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-07-10T21:24:15Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-07-10T21:24:15Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013-09-19"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["The University of Western Ontario"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Anthropology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph D"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["women and land rights","Mubarak Resettlement Scheme","scientific knowledge in development","gender relations","resistance","neoliberalism"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_ca"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/36664"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, \"Thesis title.\" (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation addresses the challenge of achieving increased empowerment and equality for Egyptian women. The dissertation tests the assumption that land access (through both joint and full titles) increases empowerment and equality for women in two desert resettlements of Sa’yda and Intilaq, part of the massive Mubarak Resettlement Scheme (MRS). In particular, the dissertation identifies: 1) how land access could empower Egyptian women and 2) women’s experiences with land access in the MRS. Findings reveal that land access is indeed the most promising route for women’s advancement in life, but the desert land required patience and financial assets. Land access, however, is not ubiquitously empowering as has been argued by many scholars. The dissertation showed, for example, that joint titles did not increase women’s ability to overcome inequalities. Women landholders of both title types experienced resistance from government officials and family members to capture opportunities provided to them through land access. The dissertation asserts that inequalities and injustices are reproduced in the MRS. Women landholders and other poor settlers were provided with the most marginal lands in the MRS and had to endure inadequate planning, limited access to basic services, and empty promises. Settlers, including women, resisted government’s weak policies by covert (rumours, gossip, and passive non-compliance) and overt ways (open protest and defiance), increasingly after the Revolution of January 25. In response, the state participated in settlers’ resistance, turned a blind eye to it, or legalized it to generate profit and please the angry crowds. The study confirms an interdependent household model for Egyptian families. Women did not aspire to opt outside their households, as has been advocated for by many scholars; rather, women landholders aimed to provide for their husbands and children. Long term sustainability of women’s access to land is seriously challenged by women landholders’ plans to bequest property mostly to their sons. The study also highlights the importance of relying on site-specific and locally relevant scientific knowledge for farming marginal lands, which is common to many parts of the world due to population pressures. Provision of land to women has the potential to be empowering, provided that policymakers also consider gender relations, land subjectivities, micro-credit, marketing, scientific research in desert conditions, adherence to promised policies, and patriarchy. In analyzing planners’ agendas and officials’ implementation through the lens of local women’s experiences, this study opens up new ways to systemically understand the links among empowerment, gender, and land access in the Middle East."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Money of Qaroon and the Patience of Ayoub: Women and Land in Egypt's Mubarak Resettlement Scheme"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Dan Jorgensen"],"dc:creator":["Najjar, Dina"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-07-10T21:24:15Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-07-10T21:24:15Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2013-09-19"],"dc:description":["The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, \"Thesis title.\" (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456."],"dc:description.abstract":["This dissertation addresses the challenge of achieving increased empowerment and equality for Egyptian women. The dissertation tests the assumption that land access (through both joint and full titles) increases empowerment and equality for women in two desert resettlements of Sa’yda and Intilaq, part of the massive Mubarak Resettlement Scheme (MRS). In particular, the dissertation identifies: 1) how land access could empower Egyptian women and 2) women’s experiences with land access in the MRS. Findings reveal that land access is indeed the most promising route for women’s advancement in life, but the desert land required patience and financial assets. Land access, however, is not ubiquitously empowering as has been argued by many scholars. The dissertation showed, for example, that joint titles did not increase women’s ability to overcome inequalities. Women landholders of both title types experienced resistance from government officials and family members to capture opportunities provided to them through land access. The dissertation asserts that inequalities and injustices are reproduced in the MRS. Women landholders and other poor settlers were provided with the most marginal lands in the MRS and had to endure inadequate planning, limited access to basic services, and empty promises. Settlers, including women, resisted government’s weak policies by covert (rumours, gossip, and passive non-compliance) and overt ways (open protest and defiance), increasingly after the Revolution of January 25. In response, the state participated in settlers’ resistance, turned a blind eye to it, or legalized it to generate profit and please the angry crowds. The study confirms an interdependent household model for Egyptian families. Women did not aspire to opt outside their households, as has been advocated for by many scholars; rather, women landholders aimed to provide for their husbands and children. Long term sustainability of women’s access to land is seriously challenged by women landholders’ plans to bequest property mostly to their sons. The study also highlights the importance of relying on site-specific and locally relevant scientific knowledge for farming marginal lands, which is common to many parts of the world due to population pressures. Provision of land to women has the potential to be empowering, provided that policymakers also consider gender relations, land subjectivities, micro-credit, marketing, scientific research in desert conditions, adherence to promised policies, and patriarchy. In analyzing planners’ agendas and officials’ implementation through the lens of local women’s experiences, this study opens up new ways to systemically understand the links among empowerment, gender, and land access in the Middle East."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/36664"],"dc:language.iso":["en_ca"],"dc:publisher":["The University of Western Ontario"],"dc:subject":["women and land rights","Mubarak Resettlement Scheme","scientific knowledge in development","gender relations","resistance","neoliberalism"],"dc:title":["The Money of Qaroon and the Patience of Ayoub: Women and Land in Egypt's Mubarak Resettlement Scheme"],"dc:type":["thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Anthropology"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph D"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:56:11Z"}