Abstract
The chapter draws on the findings from the case study of craft-making with young women, residents of care shelters in Egypt, and discusses ways in which hybrid formats of cultural engagement can help in developing their personal resilience and emerge stronger from a crisis.
The insights from the interviews and questionnaires with 18-25 years old women living in sheltered accommodation in Alexandria, integrated into pedagogic interventions designed around green crafts making, shed light on the ways in which hybrid forms of crafts-based engagement can support processes of empowering women through their own resilience building. Findings highlight innovative access to culture that can inform policy development in the region and beyond.
The case study adopts a comprehensive approach to theorise resilience, including its procedural aspects and its characterization as an acquired trait, and focuses on resilience building as a process with three adaptive outcomes - recovery, sustainability, and growth - as described by Zautra and Reich (2012), and subsequently, accessing it as an acquired trait (Connor & Davidson, 2003).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Emerald Handbook of African Studies |
| Editors | Kingsley Obi Omeihe, Christian Harrison |
| Place of Publication | Leeds |
| Publisher | Emerald Publishing Limited |
| Chapter | 7 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781837974665, 9781837974689 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781837974672 |
| Publication status | Published - 15 Sept 2025 |
Keywords
- women's empowerment
- craft making
- resilience building
- hybrid cultural engagement
- Egypt
