On Sept. 26, Saudi Arabia announced that it would give women the right to drive, making it the last country in the world to do so. According to a Sept. 26 New York Times article, the change will be implemented in June 2018 and Saudi ambassador, Prince Khalid bin Salman even suggested that women will be able to obtain licenses without permission from a guardian. How do you feel about this decision and do you feel that it is a sign of further change to come?

Prof. Suleyman Dost (NEJS)

This is obviously a most welcome and long overdue decision and it is especially important for the working women of Saudi Arabia, as they are spending much of their earnings on Uber or personal chauffeurs to get to work. This change comes as part of a general spirit of social reform initiated after the announcement of a young Crown Prince last June. It appears that the Saudi administration wants to improve the image of their country regarding human rights issues. Also, plummeting oil prices and effects of unstable regional politics on their economy possibly made Saudis reconsider their priorities. They must have realized that having more women in the workforce is more crucial than appeasing religious clerics who have long defended the ban on religious grounds. Reactions of the Saudi society and religious authorities to this important attempt of reform will decide whether we will see more change to come, including the loosening of the notorious male guardianship system.

Prof. Suleyman Dost  (NEJS) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. 

Prof. Kristen Lucken (IGS)

The driving ban, along with male guardianship laws, have for decades created barriers to women's fuller participation in the Saudi economy. Notoriously underemployed, women constitute over half the university graduates in Saudi Arabia, yet represent only a small fraction of the nation's labor force. When the 31-year old Muhammad bin Salman (MBS) was elevated to the position of Crown Prince, he proposed sweeping economic reforms to diversify the Saudi economy and just overturned the decades-long driving ban for women. Some view this gesture as a sign of progress in a nation where women are considered second-class citizens. Others more cynically see it as a ploy meant to distract attention from recent crackdowns on Saudi clerics and political dissenters. 

Prof. Kristen Lucken (IGS) is a lecturer in International and Global Studies, Religious Studies and Sociology. She specializes in immigration as well as religious and ethnic identity.

Prof. David Ellenson (NEJS)

I am delighted that Saudi Arabia will grant women permission to drive. I believe freedom is a positive value and Saudi Arabia should be saluted for extending this right to its female citizens. It is an act of basic justice, and I hope it will be the first of many steps that this nation will take in advancing the basic rights of women. At the same time, I am aware that change often occurs at a glacial pace. While I applaud this decision as a positive step in the direction of granting equal rights to women, I simply do not know whether Saudi Arabia — with its particular tradition of patriarchal dominance and guardianship for women — will grant additional equality to its female citizens in the near future. I hope it does.   

Prof. David Ellenson (NEJS) is Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies.

Ravi Simon ’19 

Passing the driving test and getting a license was a pivotal moment of high school for me. The freedom to escape the home, to see friends and to go wherever I liked was incredible. It makes me happy to think that millions of Saudi women will now know the same sense of freedom and euphoria, magnified manyfold by the difficulty of achieving this right. This decision has inspired the world that even the most staunch opponents of feminism will cave to pressure eventually. Furthermore, it is a good omen for the upcoming rule of the current heir, Mohammed bin Salman, who appears cautiously willing to accept reform. Yet the news is also a reminder of the direness and absurdity of the situation for women in Saudi Arabia. Until the right to purchase and sell property, the right to work and get a proper education, get elected, or testify in court are fully acknowledged, Saudi Arabia will remain a system of gender apartheid. 

Ravi Simon ’19 is a member of the Brandeis Academic Debate and Speech Society. He also writes for the Brandeis International Journal.