PSC 321 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Sharia, Authoritarianism, Mena
18 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
● Civil society organizations in the mena
○ Human rights organizations
○ Unions (varying levels of state control across the arab world)
○ Professional associations
○ Islamist organizations and charities
○ Challenges
■ Co-potation
■ Legal restrictions
■ Repression
■ Funding
● Non-governmental organizations
○ Advocacy NGOs
■ Professional NGOs
■ Elite, educated staff
■ Interested in human rights and democratization
○ E.G. El Nadeem center for the rehabilitation of violence and torture (egypt)
○ Go-NGOS (government-organized)
■ State-backed
■ National councils for women
■ National human rights organizations (e.g. national council for human
rights-egypt)
○ RO-NGOs (royally-organized)
● Foreign funding
○ Thorny issue
○ Many NGOs in the MENA rely on foreign funding
○ Makes groups susceptible to domestic criticism and government crackdown
● Informal, traditional venues for participation
○ Diwaniyas, Kuwait
○ Private/public space
○ Offers space for discussions, sometimes about politics
○ Protesters use diwaniyas as a starting point for protests
● Protest
○ Economic activism
■ Can have clear political implications
■ Challenges economic policies
○ Political activism
● Classic responses to protests
● Lessons about authoritarianism
○ Dynamic nature of politics in authoritarian regimes
○ Authoritarian regimes are not static, unchanging
This week and next week
● Religion (specifically islam) and politics
● How does islam influence politics in the mena?
Document Summary
Unions (varying levels of state control across the arab world) El nadeem center for the rehabilitation of violence and torture (egypt) National human rights organizations (e. g. national council for human rights-egypt) Many ngos in the mena rely on foreign funding. Makes groups susceptible to domestic criticism and government crackdown. Offers space for discussions, sometimes about politics. Protesters use diwaniyas as a starting point for protests. Dynamic nature of politics in authoritarian regimes. Variety of ways in which islam can influence politics in the mena. Religion is not the only factor influencing politics in the mena. As basis / guide for political action. As a source of identity for individuals or states. Muslims can espouse different ideologies: nationalism; socialism; secularism. Ideology and practice that advocates a political order based on islamic law. Islamists disagree on what that looks like in practice. Broad conception: islamic way of doing thing . Based on the qur"an and sunna (teachings of the prophet)
