When claiming that a civil society
is legitimate because it is an “organic” part of broader society, it is
implying that it carries the values of that same society. As Kawtharani asserts during the CAUS’
conference, Arab’s history has a base of kinship and community that remains
strong to this day. Therefore, a civil
society that reflects those traditions and beliefs, both religious and almost
tribal, will be more easily integrated in the MENA region. It will more likely be considered legitimate
than one that carries with it the “Western ideals” because the population of
the region will identify more closely with what it believes is already part of
the society. In places where one
couldn’t encounter a tradition of a strong civil society, its success today
depends on the willingness of the people in that specific place to actively
participate. As is the case for every
population in the world, one is more prone to collaborate and take part in
something that is somewhat familiar as opposed to foreign, therefore giving
legitimacy to something that is more an “organic” part of one’s daily life.
This issue could throw a wrench in the
mainstream model of civil society’s role in democratization because it would
rule it out as an agent of change. If
something can be defined as already embedded in a society, it means it won’t
inspire anything other than the status quo, which in this case would equate an
authoritative government. However,
democracy did spread in the MENA region and it would be naïve to say that civil
society did not play a role in this movement.
It would also be wrong though to consider it a necessary prerequisite
for democratization. In fact, can
encounter civil societies that are linked with the government while others aren’t;
some will have religious affiliations while others won’t; and some will
represent the community while others foreign interest. The point is that civil society is something
dynamic. It interacts with its
environment and the environment interacts with it. Being an “organic” part of broader society
doesn’t mean that some of it will be foreign to it. It simply means that it represents the old
and the new, and it is the interaction between the two of them that brings
about democratization.
Paul Ropp
ReplyDeleteMagda I thought your point that claiming organic legitimacy by an organization on behalf of civil society generally hampers it. When you said that civil society is a dynamic thing, that people change and that the concept is a fluid one and not one size fits all. I do think however, I do think that saying that whole populations are unwilling to participate in civil society because it’s foreign to them is a bit of a stretch. In my opinion they are less willing to commit to a broader civil society when the strong tradition Is not on the Sultanic state but on the family, on the tribal unit. We tend to think that MENA region society holds the same strong civic values as us, where patriotism is holy and religion is a hobby. I do agree that the foreign idea of civil of society would be a bit daunting at first, but that is not the main reason that MENA region civil society is not as strongly upheld as Western civil society. Another point I would like to talk about in your response was that Organic legitimacy “wouldn’t inspire any change” I completely agree but I wanted to expand a little bit. When something is an organic part of a society that, that it a legitimate part of the social structure and it is organic it also hampers international views on the society, say when Al-Qaida claims legitimacy in a state people will be unwilling to participate in helping that state and citizens will not want to participate in a civil society run by terrorist organizations.