MIGRATION, URBANIZATION, AND WOMENS KIN NETWORKS IN TUNIS

The perception that Tunisia's pro-Western development and policies are inevitably linked to a shift toward a Euro-American model of the isol ated nuclear family continues to dominate most contemporary research o n women and the family in Tunisia. Using ethnographic data collected d uring a one year field study and survey (1986-7) and a follow-up field study (summer 1993) of migrant and non-migrant Muslim women and their families in the capital city of Tunis, the author proposes that rathe r than adopting Euro-American ideals of conjugal isolation and withdra wal from the extended family, women in Tunis continue to live in a wor ld dominated by visits and daily interaction with near and extended ki n.