There is a quiet revolution that is radically reshaping the Muslim
world: 50 million women have entered the workforce and are upending
their countries' economies and societies.
Across the Muslim world, ever greater numbers of women are going to
work. In the span of just over a decade, millions have joined the
workforce, giving them more earning and purchasing power and greater
autonomy.
In Fifty Million Rising, award-winning economist Saadia Zahidi
illuminates this discreet but momentous revolution through the stories
of the remarkable women who are at the forefront of this shift -- a
McDonald's worker in Pakistan who has climbed the ranks to manager; the
founder of an online modest fashion startup in Indonesia; a widow in
Cairo who runs a catering business with her daughter, against her son's
wishes; and an executive in a Saudi corporation who is altering the
culture of her workplace; among many others. These women are challenging
familial and social conventions, as well as compelling businesses to
cater to women as both workers and consumers. More importantly, they are
gaining the economic power that will upend entrenched cultural norms,
re-shape how women are viewed in the Muslim world and elsewhere, and
change the mindset of the next generation.
Inspiring and deeply reported, Fifty Million Rising is a uniquely
insightful portrait of a seismic shift with global significance, as
Muslim women worldwide claim a seat at the table.
