Saudi Arabia: Women in an authoritarian state

Description

So far Saudi Arabia has not witnessed the same level of mobilisation that swept the Arab
world since 2011. However, this article argues that Saudi women have intensified their demands
for gender equality and joined men in calling for denied rights. From campaigns
to lift the ban on driving to supporting the cause of political prisoners, they are beginning
to question the conditions of exclusion imposed on them by an authoritarian state. This
has intensified the state’s willingness to co-opt women and grant them limited representation.
The state is now forced to reach out to women in order to appear less masculine.
In this changed context, the king has shifted the legitimacy of the ruling family to a new
level, seeking to feminise the authoritarian masculine state.