Abstract
The overarching theme of this chapter is that relative strength of interest in issues which can affect broader communities in KRI is not effectively translated to actual and factual participation of people in civic initiatives. Put it differently, a wide breach exists between, on the one hand, individuals who display interest in issues such as democracy, human rights, rising prices and cleanliness of cities, and, on the other hand, the same individuals who demonstrate inability (not necessarily stated) to organize collective action to address issues that interest them collectively. Hence, there exists a situation of inconsistency between civic interest on attitudinal level and collective action on the behavioral level in the context of KRI. This chapter places emphasis on the structural determinant of civil society and draws attention to three forms of interaction between state and civil society in Kurdistan: a harmonious relationship with civil society by formulating an inspiring legal framework, to domestication and co-optation through illegitimate and unfair provision of financial support and intervention in internal affairs of civil society organizations to confrontation with “unfriendly” civil society. The chapter, furthermore, offers an explanation for the inability of protest movements in bringing about major changes in the politics and governance in KRI.
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Notes
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The informal part of associational life includes any forms of social and cultural ties which are shaped around kinship relations, friendships, informal empathy and altruism networks and so on. These associations are marked by lack of internal constitutions which can highlight the formal purposes of an organization, membership criteria, decision making and financial resources and so forth.
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Although my dataset does not include information about the occupational status of respondents, the sample includes a large section of educated people with BA degrees. This section of the population is more likely to be employed in the public sector. Up to the last few years, nearly every graduate student had the opportunity to be employed in the public sector.
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The influential Iraqi sociologist Ali Wardi (2005, pp. 7–8) points to political sensitivities and cultural difficulties that confront social researchers. Social researchers are often seen by people as agents of the state which, in itself, is seen as a source of destruction and damage in people’s life. Moreover, gender boundaries, as a cultural issue, prevent male researchers from going to households and conduct interviews with female family members. In fact, due to these reasons, Wardi avoided quantitative methods of social research in his academic investigations.
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These two indicators are selected relying on results of factor analysis conducted in the Chapter 3. The two indicators hold high loadings in the two cities of Hewler and Sulaimani.
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Shafiq (2015) presents an activity type-based classification for the NGOs: with respect to civil society organizations, the classification is as following: socialization, family and social development, 566 organizations, women and gender 94, education, human rights and democracy 561, legal education 47, media organizations 44, charity and medical 201, research institutes 59, environment 136, youth, children and students 253, economic 51, people with special needs 2 and art 86. Meanwhile, the classification for professional organizations is as following: socialization, family and social development associations 30, women and gender 30, education, democracy and human rights 588, legal education 13, media 11, charity and medical 53, academic and research 20, environment 10, youth, children and students 54, economic 26, people with special needs 15 and art 32.
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According to Frances Stewart, horizontal social inequalities refer to “unequal social outcomes such as life expectancy, infant and child mortality, educational attainment and access to services across groups that differ in terms of geographical, behavioral, language, or physical characteristics” (Stewart 2000, 2002 cited in Juan and Wegner 2019).
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Khedir, H.H. (2020). Public Interest and Civic Participation (PICP). In: Social Capital, Civic Engagement and Democratization in Kurdistan. Middle East Today. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42144-1_4
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