Yakin Ertürk began by explaining the value of the historical perspective in reform movements. Historical vision helps us come back to reality. Otherwise, we look at the world in snapshots and differences are highlighted. A historical approach allows similarities to come through. Patriarchy seems to be consistent throughout the world, though reactions to it are different. The historical perspective allows us to recognize that resistance to oppression has existed throughout history.
In 1963, Ertürk spent a year at a Catholic high school here in Hyde Park. In school he would challenge her teacher, a nun, on the Catholic Church's view of contraception and she influenced some of her fellow students. She was very much influenced by the democratic approach of this teacher who allowed her to speak even though she did not like what was being said. Years later, in Saudi Arabia she taught a class where she was not able to speak freely. She was also influenced by the young women with whom she interacted and the way that they lived without the freedom to say what they wanted to say. She recognizes that freedom of speech is not the only democratic ideal, but it is definitely an important.
Throughout the conference, we have spoken about family law and Shari'a as the main constraints on equality for women in the Muslim world. We can agree that women's rights are constrained and that democracy, where it exists in the Middle East, is fragile. However, Ertürk points out that these are not the only constraints. In order to accurately assess the situation we need a political economy approach in addition to the religious/cultural approach related to identity. This approach looks at material resources. The countries of the Middle East can be divided into two categories, countries that are rich in oil and countries that are not. Ertürk has noticed that the countries that do not have oil supplies have experienced significantly more reform than the ones that have. The lack of oil makes it more difficult to keep women out of the labor force. There is little reason for one to participate politically if she is excluded economically; people seek change in politics to change their material existence. We need to look at the labor codes in these countries. In the oil rich countries they are generally either protectionist or biased and the result seriously undermines the economic position of women. Islam is often used to justify such legislation and this is a serious loss to democracy. The implication seems to be that freedom of speech is not enough; without economic participation freedom of speech is less likely to be exercised.