Ifda dossier 47, May/June 1985

identified the Arab-Muslim weakness in denying women the in-
volvement in the process of production:
among the weaknesses in a society is the fact that the ma-
jority of its members are not involved in a productive work
process.. . Women in every society average half of the popu-
lation. To condemn them to be ignorant and inactive occa-
sions the loss of half of the society's productive potential
and creates a considerable drain upon the society's resour-
ces". (ib., p. 18).
Consequently, he advocated the education of women by iden-
tifying education as another secular liberating force from
the bondage of a male societal-structure, as well as an es-
sential % component in the process of development and pro-
duction.
Carrying Amin Kacem's work a step further, Tahar Haddad advocated
women's training in the sciences and industries combined
with human sciences. As a North African feminist of
the thirties, he strongly believed that involving women in
the professions by training them in professional skills
should be one of the highest priorities for Arab nations 4/.
Other indigenous criticisms of the "domestication" of women
in the contemporary Arab world are represented by Farag 5/
who argues that investment in "woman-power" is synonymous to
investment in a country's human potential, because women's
participation in society is an index of the degree of civilization
of that society. He maintains that women's contribution
to development is closely related to the degree of
awareness, culture, education and development of the society
as a whole. To ensure women's full participation in public
life, he recommends Arab decision makers to take into consideration
in their planning factors like education, legislation,
women's organizations, child-care and health services.
In 1974, Ahmed Wajih g/ advocated the need for a holistic
approach to development by denouncing the "urban bias" pre-
valent in most developmental projects and asking for women's
integration in rual development instead. He contended that
female demands for economic parity with men will not in
- 4/ Tahar Haddad, Imr 'utuna a fi-at S'karia m-aZ-Mujtmaa (Women 'S Status
as Reflected in Law and Society) (Tunis: Dar al Tunisija Linashr, 1972,
2nd ed.
S/ Osmt L. Farag, "Arab Women and National Development", Les Garnets de
7'~nfance (VOL. 23, 1973) pp. 87-97
- G/ Ahmed Wajih, Constraints and Requirements to Increase Women's
Participation in Integrated Rural Uevp.Zoprnent, unpublished paper presented
at the seminar of the "Role of Vornen in Intearated Rural, Develoumant
with Emphasis on Population Problems", Cairo, 1974.