Civil Society and Political Reform in Lebanon and Libya
Civil Society and Political Reform in Lebanon and Libya

Author: Carmen Geha

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-02-12

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1317290224

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Lebanon and Libya have undergone critical political events in recent years. However, demands for reform from civic institutions during these transitions have not led to concrete political decisions. Civil Society and Political Reform in Lebanon and Libya reveals the deeply-entrenched historical patterns and elements of continuity that have led to path dependent outcomes in the political transitions of both countries. Motivated by personal experiences as an activist in Lebanon, the author draws together a wide range of data from participant observations, nation-wide surveys, interviews and focus groups in a careful analysis of these two civil society-led reform campaigns. The study demonstrates how the combination of weak states and power-sharing agreements marginalizes civic organisations and poses institutional constraints on the likelihood of reform. Written by an active participant in the political events discussed, this book offers new insight into two countries which present comparable and informative case studies. As such, it is a valuable resource for students, scholars and policymakers interested in civil society, politics and reform in the Middle East and North Africa.

Reproducing Sectarianism
Reproducing Sectarianism

Author: Paul W. T. Kingston

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2013-06-20

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 1438447132

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The Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere has highlighted the growing importance of the politics of civil society in the contemporary Middle East. In Reproducing Sectarianism, Paul W. T. Kingston examines rights-oriented advocacy networks within Lebanon's postwar civil society, focusing on movements and political campaigns based on gender relations, the environment, and disability. Set within Lebanon's postwar sectarian democracy, whose factionalizing dynamics have long penetrated the country's civil society, Kingston's fascinating study provides an in-depth analysis of the successes and challenges that ensued in promoting rights-oriented social policies. Drawing on extensive field research, including interviews and a wealth of primary documents, Kingston has produced a groundbreaking work that will be of interest to Middle East experts and nonexperts alike.

Civil Society and Political Reform in Lebanon and Libya
Civil Society and Political Reform in Lebanon and Libya

Author: Carmen Geha

Publisher: Routledge, is

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781138184923

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Civil Society and Political Reform in Lebanon and Libya reveals the deeply-entrenched historical patterns and elements of continuity that have led to path dependent outcomes in the political transitions of both countries. Motivated by personal experiences as an activist in Lebanon, the author draws together a wide range of data from participant observations, nation-wide surveys, interviews and focus groups in a careful analysis of these two civil society-led reform campaigns. The study demonstrates how the combination of weak states and power-sharing agreements marginalizes civic organisations and poses institutional constraints on the likelihood of reform.

When Blame Backfires
When Blame Backfires

Author: Anne Marie Baylouny

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2020-09-15

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 1501751522

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The recent influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan and Lebanon has stimulated domestic political action against these countries' governments. This is the dramatic argument at the heart of Anne Marie Baylouny's When Blame Backfires. Baylouny examines the effects on Jordan and Lebanon of hosting huge numbers of Syrian refugees. How has the populace reacted to the real and perceived negative effects of the refugees? In thought-provoking analysis, Baylouny shows how the demographic changes that result from mass immigration put stress on existing problems in these two countries, worsening them to the point of affecting daily lives. One might expect that, as a result, refugees and minorities would become the focus of citizen anger. But as When Blame Backfires demonstrates, this is not always the case. What Baylouny exposes, instead, is that many of the problems that might be associated with refugees are in fact endemic to the normal routine of citizens' lives. The refugee crisis exacerbated an already dire situation rather than created it, and Jordanians and Lebanese started to protest not only against the presence of refugees but against the incompetence and corruption of their own governments as well. From small-scale protests about goods and public services, citizens progressed to organized and formal national movements calling for economic change and rights to public services not previously provided. This dramatic shift in protest and political discontent was, Baylouny shows, the direct result of the arrival of Syrian refugees.

Migrations in the Mediterranean
Migrations in the Mediterranean

Author: Ricard Zapata-Barrero

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 419

ISBN-13: 3031422643

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This open access Regional Reader describes population movement circulating within the Mediterranean area, for any reason or from any region, be them European, African, Asian or originating from any of the Mediterranean shores. It showcases a plurality of approaches to and applications of Mediterranean migration, contributing to a regional approach to migration, thereby defending this regional approach by scaling Mediterranean migration issues. This book covers a large set of questions related to the migration research agenda, such as: market and economy, politics and policies, super-diversity and intersectionality, media, society, welfare and the environment through five main parts: Geo-political Mediterranean Relations, Governance, Policies and Politics, Mobility drivers and Agency, Cities, History and Social Transformations, and Economy and Labour Markets. This Regional Reader provides an interesting read to scholars, researchers, but also policy makers and civil society organizations’ high representatives, international foundations and institutions interested in linking the Mediterranean and migration.

Salafism in the Maghreb
Salafism in the Maghreb

Author: Frederic M. Wehrey

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0190942401

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The Arab Maghreb-the long stretch of North Africa that expands from Libya to Mauritania-is a vitally important region that impacts the security and politics of Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and the broader Middle East. As Middle East scholars Frederic Wehrey and Anouar Boukhars show in Salafism in the Maghreb, it is also home to the conservative, literalist interpretation of Islam known as Salafism, which has emerged as a major social and political force. Through extensive interviews and fieldwork, Wehrey and Boukhars examine the many roles and manifestations of Salafism in the Maghreb, looking at the relationship between Salafism and the Maghreb's ruling regimes, as well as competing Islamist currents, increasingly youthful populations, and communal groups like tribes and ethno-linguistic minorities. They pay particular attention to how seemingly immutable Salafi ideology is often shaped by local contexts and opportunities. Informed by rigorous research, deep empathy, and unparalleled access to Salafi adherents, clerics, politicians, and militants, Salafism in the Maghreb offers a definitive account of this important Islamist current.

Making Politics Work for Development
Making Politics Work for Development

Author: World Bank

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2016-07-14

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 1464807744

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Governments fail to provide the public goods needed for development when its leaders knowingly and deliberately ignore sound technical advice or are unable to follow it, despite the best of intentions, because of political constraints. This report focuses on two forces—citizen engagement and transparency—that hold the key to solving government failures by shaping how political markets function. Citizens are not only queueing at voting booths, but are also taking to the streets and using diverse media to pressure, sanction and select the leaders who wield power within government, including by entering as contenders for leadership. This political engagement can function in highly nuanced ways within the same formal institutional context and across the political spectrum, from autocracies to democracies. Unhealthy political engagement, when leaders are selected and sanctioned on the basis of their provision of private benefits rather than public goods, gives rise to government failures. The solutions to these failures lie in fostering healthy political engagement within any institutional context, and not in circumventing or suppressing it. Transparency, which is citizen access to publicly available information about the actions of those in government, and the consequences of these actions, can play a crucial role by nourishing political engagement.

Life as Politics
Life as Politics

Author: Asef Bayat

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2013-05-01

Total Pages: 391

ISBN-13: 080478633X

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Prior to 2011, popular imagination perceived the Muslim Middle East as unchanging and unchangeable, frozen in its own traditions and history. In Life as Politics, Asef Bayat argues that such presumptions fail to recognize the routine, yet important, ways in which ordinary people make meaningful change through everyday actions. First published just months before the Arab Spring swept across the region, this timely and prophetic book sheds light on the ongoing acts of protest, practice, and direct daily action. The second edition includes three new chapters on the Arab Spring and Iran's Green Movement and is fully updated to reflect recent events. At heart, the book remains a study of agency in times of constraint. In addition to ongoing protests, millions of people across the Middle East are effecting transformation through the discovery and creation of new social spaces within which to make their claims heard. This eye-opening book makes an important contribution to global debates over the meaning of social movements and the dynamics of social change.

Political Change in the Middle East and North Africa
Political Change in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: Inmaculada Szmolka

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Published: 2017-06-29

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 1474415296

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Taking a comparative approach, this book considers the ways in which political regimes have changed since the Arab Spring. It addresses a series of questions about political change in the context of the revolutions, upheavals and protests that have taken place in North Africa and the Arab Middle East since December 2010, and looks at the various processes have been underway in the region: democratisation (Tunisia), failed democratic transitions (Egypt, Libya and Yemen), political liberalisation (Morocco) and increased authoritarianism (Bahrain, Kuwait, Syria). In other countries, in contrast to these changes, the authoritarian regimes remain intact (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Arab United Emirates.

Taking to the Streets
Taking to the Streets

Author: Lina Khatib

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2014-05-20

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 1421413132

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Debunks the simplistic narratives of youth-driven, social media revolutions in the Arab Spring. Taking to the Streets critically examines the conventional wisdom that the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings happened spontaneously and were directed by tech-savvy young revolutionaries. Pairing first-hand observations from activists with the critical perspectives of scholars, the book illuminates the concept of activism as an ongoing process, rather than a sudden burst of defiance. The contributors examine case studies from uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, evaluating the various manifestations of political activism within the context of each country's distinct sociopolitical landscape. The chapters include a country-specific timeline of the first year following the uprisings and conclude with lessons learned. First-hand observations include those of Libyan activist Rihab Elhaj, who reflects on how the revolution gave birth to Libyan civil society, as well as Syrian writer and human rights activist Khawla Dunia, who discusses how Syrians have tried to remain steadfast in their commitment to nonviolent resistance. A foreword by Prince Hicham Ben Abdallah El Alaoui—third in succession to the Moroccan throne and consulting professor at Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL)—provides a historical overview of activism in the Middle East and North Africa. A postscript from CDDRL director Larry Diamond distinguishes the study of activism from that of democratization. Taking to the Streets will be used in courses on Middle East politics and will be relevant to scholars and the general public interested in democratization, political change, and activism.