Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World: The Dynamics of Activism * By FRANCESCO CAVATORTA and VINCENT DURAC

Abstract

Francesco Cavatorta, a senior lecturer in Middle East politics and international relations at Dublin City University, and Vincent Durac, a lecturer in Middle East politics at University College Dublin, make an innovative and provocative set of arguments in this ambitious book, whose recent publication is made even more timely considering the wave of popular mass protests against authoritarian rulers across the Middle East and North Africa. As of this writing, two of the region's longest-ruling autocrats, Tunisia's Zayn al-ʿAbidin bin ʿAli and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, have resigned after massive demonstrations against them while armed insurrection or mass protests rock Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Morocco. Smaller-scale protests have also taken place in Algeria, Jordan, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as some of the Arab Gulf states. The authors’ questioning of the frequent linkage between an active civil society and democratization and the argument that Islamist social movements of various types should be included in the definition of ‘civil society’ across the Middle East and North Africa is particularly relevant in relation to the seismic shifts in regional politics and societies.