The Arab Families Working Group (AFWG) is a collective of fifteen scholars from universities, NGO’s and research foundations whose work focuses on youth and families in Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt and their diasporas. Founded in 2001, AFWG is committed to advancing the state of empirical and theoretical knowledge on Arab families and articulating research processes and outcomes with practitioners. AFWG projects include comparative, transnational, interdisciplinary, and collaborative work on the three countries, with comparative work on diasporic Arab families in the United States and Canada. AFWG acts as a bridge bringing together scholars, policy makers and practitioners to improve understanding of and work with families.

Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt emerged as the foci for AFWG work because of the critical mass of ethnographic and historical studies available on these countries. Each has a long history of institution building around women’s studies and family studies. Each of these sites represents different historical developments and regional challenges. Palestine is a state in formation, having endured a half century of dislocation, national liberation movement, occupation, war and violence. Lebanon endured seventeen years of civil war and continues to be confronted with internal and external challenges to its state building project. The Egyptian state and society is transforming under pressure for structural adjustment and political reform. Comparisons of these data-rich countries and their diasporas provides a critical basis for future research in other Arab countries.

AFWG is co-hosted in Cairo (Egypt) and Davis, California (USA). Its 15 core members represent diverse disciplines and organizations. An institutional network supports the work of AFWG, including the American University in Cairo (Social Research Center and Institute for Gender and Women's Studies); the Population Council, Cairo; the Lebanese American University, Beirut (Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World); Birzeit University, West Bank (Institute of Women's Studies); and the University of California, Davis (Anthropology, Women and Gender Studies, and Middle East/South Asia Studies).

The founder and facilitator of the Arab Families Working Group is Suad Joseph, http://sjoseph.ucdavis.edu

AFWG@ucdavis.edu