Item Details
Skip Navigation Links
   ActiveUsers:3965Hits:20959262Skip Navigation Links
Show My Basket
Contact Us
IDSA Web Site
Ask Us
Today's News
HelpExpand Help
Advanced search

In Basket
  Journal Article   Journal Article
 

ID166648
Title ProperUnderstanding Arab civil society
Other Title Informationfunctional validity as the missing link
LanguageENG
AuthorGeha, Carmen
Summary / Abstract (Note)The study of civil society in the Arab region has been riddled with normative expectations largely derived from the experiences of civil society in other countries. While the region continues to endure a democratic deficit, it is also home to myriad civil society organizations working on a range of issues. The missing link when theorizing about Arab civil society has been in considering its functional validity in the eyes of the activists themselves. This article utilizes insights from focus groups with activists in Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Kuwait, Iraq and Syria to propose a typology of the functional validity that civil society offers to Arab activists. Despite the criticisms that the concept of civil society has faced in the region, activists continue to find validity in the work they are doing. The typology proposed here presents a fivefold validity of action through neutrality, mobilization, democratic claim, access to funds, and representation for civil society activists. By bringing in empirical evidence from the activists themselves we can move away from normative expectations about civil society towards a better understanding of the various functions that civil society organizations are fulfilling in different contexts across the region.
`In' analytical NoteBritish Journal of Middle East Studies Vol. 46, No.3; Jul 2019: p.498-513
Journal SourceBritish Journal of Middle East Studies Vol: 46 No 3
Key WordsArab Civil Society


 
 
Media / Other Links  Full Text