Book review: Gendered paradoxes: educating Jordanian women in nation, faith, and progress

"Gendered Paradoxes: Educating Jordanian Women in Nation, Faith, and Progress." Fida J. Adely. University of Chicago Press. 2012. --- In 2005 the World Bank released a gender assessment of the nation of Jordan, a country that like many in the Middle East has undergone dramatic social and gender transformations, in part by encouraging equal access to education for men and women. The resulting demographic picture there—highly educated women who still largely stay at home as mothers and caregivers— prompted the World Bank to label Jordan a “gender paradox.” Cheryl Brumley is impressed by the way this book challenges development truisms and hopes the policymakers and development professionals take heed before enacting broad policies in the Middle East.