Driving in the middle of the road: Paradoxes of women’s role under the New Saudi Arabian Nationalism

• Main Author: Luiza Cerioli
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Edições Afrontamento, Lda. 2019-12-01
• Series: Ex Aequo: Revista da Associação Portuguesa de Estudos sobre as Mulheres
• Subjects: saudi arabia; international status; vision 2030; nationalism; autocratic liberalization
• Online Access: https://exaequo.apem-estudos.org/artigo/paradoxes-of-women-s-role-under-the-new-saudi-arabian-nationalism

King Salman and prince Mohammad bin Salman yearn to shift Saudi Arabia away from oil dependency via the project Vision 2030, which includes a set of liberalisations for women, such as legalisation of driving and economic empowerment. Topics related to women have been a taboo to Saudi society; thus, it is interesting to understand their role in these reforms and their negotiation of rights within the state. I argue that these reforms are not politically liberalising, as they do not rearrange the patriarchal structure. Moreover, they walk in line with a top-down nationalist project that excludes and arrests, among others, female activists that previously fought for the right to drive, stressing the limitations on women’s freedom under Salman’s rule.