Abstract
RIESEARCH ON THE POLITICS OF the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel (PAI) has thus far focused mainly on parliamentary activity. In recent years, the PAI has also been resorting to mobilization through civil society associations, an area that has thus far received little scholarly attention. The absence of a theoretical link between the universalistic assumptions of civil society theories and the particularistic motivations behind communal mobilization has led some observers to assume that PAI non-governmental organizations target civic equality.' This is largely because civil society is conventionally seen as building strong, inclusive societal bonds. In this article, I present an alternative: PAI NGOs constitute what can be termed civil society. Rather than view PAT NGOs as embarking on a civic campaign for civil equality, I contend that PAI civil society associations are a mode of ethnic mobilization, targeting the empowerment ofan ethnic community. As such, they are distinct from conventional civil society organizations that promote civic rights. PAI NGOs borrow a variety of strategies that are applied by classical civil society associations, but their ends are more particularistic, aiming at institutional reform favorable to the PAI community and raising political and communal consciousness amongst the minority population. More generally, ethnic civil society mobilization is a peculiar subtype of civil society activity. The study of this phenomenon requires an integrated framework that bridges between civil society activity and ethnic mobilization. Such a link is necessary for a better analysis of ethnically based civil society mobilization that promotes institutional reform and raises minority political and communal consciousness. Such mobilization, however, does not target universal empowerment of citizens vis-a-vis the
Published Version
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