The Middle East was the region least impacted in the 2008 crisis, has investment systems markedly different to the West, is largely governed by Islamic Shari’a, and has varying forms of governance and institutional organization, which are not understood by many, nor how these systems shape entrepreneurial and industrial development. While the Middle East as a region has seen a small growth in entrepreneurship for women, and business scholarship on the Middle East has grown, there is no text in English that has brought critical insights from the Middle East together in a single volume.
In examining women’s entrepreneurship in the Middle East, this book aims to challenge Global North assumptions about the disempowering impacts of Islamic Shari’a and governance. Referring to the constraints of Islam on women’s subjectivity and agency greatly misunderstands religious identity, of both men and women, and the way in which public administration and private sector institutions are organized in very different ways to Western regions. This timely text expands and adds new insights to the theorizations of women’s entrepreneurship in the Middle East, through unravelling spatialized themes, and incorporates contemporary themes including: an Islamic science reading of women, work and venturing; changing families and entrepreneurship development; women managing social crises; Islamization, governance and women; Islamic feminist activisms and entrepreneurship; representations of women’s entrepreneurship on social media; and women’s collectives leading entrepreneurship via Facebook entrepreneurship.
It will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of entrepreneurship, gender, work and organizations.
Part I Islamic economic perspectives and entrepreneurship development 1. The Mosque and the Satellite: Exploring the Multi -Level and Multi -Agency Dynamics of Women’s Entrepreneurship Development in the Middle East Beverly Dawn Metcalfe, Bettina Lynda Bastian, and Haya Al-Dajani 2. Islam, women’s entrepreneurship, and business ethics: A critique of classical Islamic discourse Mohammad Abdullah Part II Entrepreneurial Practices and Organization in Middle Eastern Contexts 3. Women entrepreneurs in the United Arab Emirates: Their agency and values Linzi J. Kemp, Su Beesley, and Monica Gallant 4. Women’s entrepreneurship in a transitioning Saudi Arabia Mashael Alsahli and Haya Al-Dajani 5. Gendered representations of entrepreneurship in Bahrain: A critical discourse analysis of women entrepreneurs in social media Haleema Al A’ali 6. Gender differences in entrepreneurship in Lebanon Bettina Lynda Bastian and Stephen Hill 7. The entrepreneurship ecosystem for enhancing women’s entrepreneurship in Jordan Amal El Kharouf, Abdulraheem Abualbasal, Hiba S. Abbadi, and David Weir 8. How do they make it to entrepreneurship? The case of Qatari women Hend Al Muftah Part III Policy challenges and opportunities for women’s entrepreneurship development 9. The role of women’s organizations and Islamic feminism in supporting entrepreneurial development Beverly Dawn Metcalfe and Pascale Lahoud 10. Assessing human capital development and learning opportunities of female entrepreneurs in Palestine and Saudi Arabia: A cross country comparison Beverly McNally and Grace Khoury 11. Women's entrepreneurial leadership education for the public sector in the Gulf: Curricular values for diversity and inclusion Eugenie A. Samier and M. Evren Tok 12. Entrepreneurship in the conflict contexts of the Arab Middle East: A contextual gendered lens on empowerment and resilience Sally Shamieh and Doaa Althalathini 13. Rethinking necessity entrepreneurship: Narratives on the experiences of microenterprise development in Upper Egypt Nellie El Enany and Christina Wichert 14. Women supporting women in Egypt’s digital entrepreneurship space Hager Faisal Amer, Nehal El Naggar, and Ayman Osman 15. Conclusion: Research pathways for entrepreneurship development in the MENA region Beverly Dawn Metcalfe, Bettina Lynda Bastian, and Haya Al-Dajani
Dr. Beverly Dawn Metcalfe is Visiting Professor on Women and Development involved in the Business and Human Rights Initiative at the École Supérieure des Affaires (ESA) Business School in Beirut. Dr. Bettina Lynda Bastian is Dean and Associate Professor at the Royal University for Women, Bahrain.. Dr. Haya Al-Dajani is a Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Mohammed Bin Salman College for Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
