BA, Kent State University, 2013, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Anthropology

This thesis discusses the intersection between gender and the Arab world through the lens of anthropological theory and conflict management. The first chapter identifies the dominant streams of universalism and relativism within conflict management and anthropology. The second chapter traces gender through anthropological theory of the late twentieth century. The work of scholars Leila Ahmed, Saba Mahmood, and Lila Abu-Lughod are used in the third chapter to analyze how certain ideas about relativism and culture can be used in a variety of contexts dealing with communities of Muslim women and concluding with a series of questions revolving around how conflict management can utilize and benefit from these ideas and the works of the three scholars.

Committee: Richard Feinberg Dr. (Advisor); Landen Hancock Dr. (Committee Member); Jung-Yeup Kim Dr. (Committee Member); Susan Roxburgh Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Cultural Anthropology