Abstract
Analyses of the Arab Spring have generated diverse insights into a turbulent period in regional politics, marked by dramatic breakthroughs in citizen empowerment as well as by political backlash, heightened repression, and social conflict. Critical studies point not just to hopeful developments stemming from activists’ insistence on new political norms and emphasis on human dignity but also to deficiencies inherent in campaigns and slogans that manifested greater clarity about what people seek to dismantle than about the system and society they might build together through enduring coalitions, institutions, and programs. By using civic space as an organizing metaphor and adopting a constructivist perspective on the importance of norms in defining the character of social and political life, this chapter highlights the crucial importance of three strategic pathways for shaping long-term change in Arab polities: committed utilization of civil resistance to counter repressive governance and authoritarian (geo)politics; adoption of sustainable citizen empowerment as an organizing principle for social change; and focused engagement with the challenges, value tensions, and creative possibilities inherent in transitional justice processes. All three of these pathways appear essential for the success of democratic and progressive movements in the Middle East and North Africa region, and represent options through which social change agents can work to reconstruct political norms in ways that depart from past patterns, secure a shared civic space, and advance social justice.
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Notes
- 1.
Though politics has often been defined in relation to power and interests, Said et al. (1995) define politics as “the organized activity of individuals seeking to put into practice their convictions about social values” (p. 21).
- 2.
Civil resistance has been defined as “widespread and sustained activities by ordinary citizens against a particular power, force, policy or regime” (Roberts and Ash, cited by Stephan 2009, p. 1).
- 3.
Proposals exist, for example, to utilize traditional leaders and processes in Libyan transitional justice and peacemaking efforts (Elmangoush 2015).
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Funk, N.C. (2020). Constructing Civic Space: Civil Resistance, Sustainable Citizen Empowerment, and Transitional Justice as Pathways of Change in Contemporary Arab Politics. In: Mohamed, E., Fahmy, D. (eds) Arab Spring. Critical Political Theory and Radical Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24758-4_13
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