Civilian Jihad: Nonviolent Struggle, Democratization, and Governance in the Middle East (The Palgrave Macmillan Series on Civil Resistance) [Paperback]

Maria J. Stephan (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0230621414 | ISBN-13: 978-0230621411

The Middle East, a region infamous for political violence and a democratic deficit, boasts a rich but little-known history of nonviolent civilian-led struggles for rights and freedoms. Ordinary Egyptians, Palestinians, Turks, Israelis, Iranians, Kuwaitis and other Middle Easterners have, over the past century, used "weapons" including boycotts, strikes, demonstrations, sit-ins, and other methods of civil disobedience and noncooperation to courageously challenge entrenched power and to advance democratic self-rule. This book challenges the oft-heard claim that nonviolent resistance "can't work" in the Middle East by chronicling some of the most significant nonviolent campaigns against colonialism, foreign occupation, authoritarianism, and structural injustice in the region. Other chapters examine the role of strategy, political humor, religion, Islamist movements, and external actors in advancing and impeding democratization and good governance. This volume, which includes scholarly and activist perspectives, will be of particular interest to academics, policymakers, journalists, and local civic leaders interested in the Middle East, nonviolent action, social movements, democratization, and war and peace studies – as well as educated general readers interested in understanding present convulsions in the Middle East. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Despite the longevity of authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, the countries of the region have also witnessed a strong desire for democratization. Civil society institutions have burgeoned and people in country after country have used non-violent means to stand up against autocratic governments. Civilian Jihad provides an excellent account of the encounter between these two forces. It is a fascinating book to read.”--Haleh Esfandiari: author of My Prison, My Home: One Woman’s Story of Captivity in Iran and Director, Middle East Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington DC

“In the prevailing view, the Middle East looms as a stagnant, anti-democratic backwater, torn by sectarian violence.  This timely volume provides an important corrective to this view, rending visible the many vibrant, non-violent movements that stand as a powerful rebuke not only to fundamentalist violence but anti-democratic practices in the region. Here’s hoping this book finds the wide readership it deserves among both scholars of social movements and revolutions and those concerned with democracy and civil society in the Middle East.”--Doug McAdam, Stanford University

“Discussions of democracy in the Middle East often gloss over the important question of how and why people in that region organize to resist authority. Civilian Jihad is a timely and probing examination of this building block of democratic activism. Relying on numerous case studies this book provides fresh insights into Middle East politics, revealing its dynamism and grit in pursuit of freedom.”--Vali Nasr, author of Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It Will Mean for Our World

About the Author

Dr. Maria J. Stephan is Senior Director, Policy and Research at the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (January 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0230621414
• ISBN-13: 978-0230621411
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #648,178 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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