The volume addresses a central question: how can feminist economics contribute to a better understanding of the WANA region’s pressing socioeconomic challenges? In a context shaped by decades of neoliberal restructuring, protracted conflicts, authoritarian governance, and deepening inequalities along gender, class, and other social lines, conventional economic approaches have proven insufficient for explaining the lived realities of people across the region.

The book argues that feminist economics offers a valuable alternative framework by exposing the structural roots of inequality and by integrating economic analysis with social, political, and environmental dimensions. Rather than treating economic issues as isolated from wider power relations, the volume examines how neoliberal reforms, austerity measures, privatization, and global market integration have reshaped labor, welfare systems, and social reproduction across WANA societies. Particular attention is paid to the hidden costs of neoliberalism, including the growing burden of unpaid care work, precarious labor conditions, and the unequal effects of war, displacement, and economic crises on women and marginalized communities.

Bringing together contributions from multiple countries, including Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine, and Tunisia, the volume adopts an intersectional perspective to analyze how economic crises, migration, environmental degradation, and geopolitical interventions intersect with gender and social hierarchies. The contributors demonstrate how economic, political, and social systems in the region are deeply interconnected and mutually reinforce structural inequalities. At the same time, the book highlights forms of resistance, resilience, and collective organizing that challenge dominant neoliberal paradigms and open possibilities for alternative futures.

Therefore, the volume aims to provide both critical insights and practical pathways toward more just, inclusive, and sustainable economic models in the WANA region, while contributing to broader debates on feminist political economy and social justice.