This book examines, in comparative perspective, the different ideals about family and society and how they have impacted on real family life across a number of countries in the Middle East. Dr. Kathryn Yount is an associate professor of Global Health and Sociology at Emory University and has conducted research on gender and the family in Egypt and the Middle East since 1995. She has received grants for this work from Emory, as well as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the World Bank, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to Emory University, and the Andrew Mellon Foundation to Johns Hopkins University. She has received awards from Emory and the American Public Health Association for her research. Dr. Hoda Rashad is Director and Research Professor of the Social Research Center of the American University in Cairo and conducted a large body of research on development issues. She is a member of WHO Commission on "Social Determinants of Health", and the Council of the International Union of Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP). In Egypt, She is member of the Senate (El Shoura Council), one of the two parliamentary bodies in Egypt. She also serves on the National Council for Women, which reports to the President of Egypt. Part 1: Introduction Family Life and Ideational Change in Egypt, Iran, and Tunisia Kathryn M. Yount, and Rashad Hoda Part 2: Transnationalism, Nationalism, and New Family Ideals 1. Familism and Critical Arab Family Studies Joseph, Suad 2. International Feminism and the Women’s Movement in Egypt, 1904-1923: A Reappraisal of Categories and Legacies Mary Ann. Fay 3. From Birth Control to Family Planning: Population, Gender, and the Politics of Reproduction in Egypt Laura. Bier 4. Family Law and Family Planning Policy in Pre- and Post-revolutionary Iran Homa Hoodfar 5. Family Law and Ideological Debates in Post-colonial Tunisia Mounira Maya Charrad Part 3: Continuity and Change in Daily Family Life 6. Rationales for Kin Marriages in Rural Upper Egypt" Hania Sholkamy, 7. Social Change and Parent-Adolescent Dynamics in Egypt Sahar El Tawila ; Barbara Ibrahim, and Hind Wassef . 8. Reprint: Family Power and Gender Preference in Minya, Egypt Kathryn M. Yount 9. Divorce and the Fate of the Family in Modern Century Egypt Kenneth Cuno 10. The Family and Social Change in Post-revolutionary Iran Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal, Peter McDonald, Meimanat Hossein-Chavoshi 11. From Sexual Submission to Voluntary Commitment: The Transformation of Family Ties in Contemporary Tunisia Lilia Labidi Part 4: Concluding Remarks - Family Life and Ideational Change in Egypt, Iran, and Tunisia --- Reconsidered Hoda Rashad and Kathryn M. Yount