Ambiguous subjectivity within the Algerian patriarchal household : a case study of married working women in Mascara

Abstract EN

The Algerian family has undergone significant transformations within the last twenty years.

It has, for a long time, been of a patriarchal character where the father had a preponderant position, nowadays, the family structure and the power relations have drastically been altered with women's acquisition of a relatively independent status from that of the male relative by accessing the paid labor force, thereby earning social visibility.

This new situation has tumbled the cultural norms established and deeply rooted within the Algerian society.

This paradoxical situation has entailed an ambiguous subjectivity positioning women in a determining turning point on the one hand as agents who reproduce patriarchal social arrangements, and as attempting to break away from them by creating an autonomous individual capable of performative actions on the other.

In this regard, the present paper attempts to bring into view the microlevel indicator of the macro-level transformation of the Algerian female agent amidst the socioeconomic waves of modernization and the dragging forces of patriarchy.

It attempts to analyze working women's perceptions of their own situation and the power dynamics that occur among married couples.