Social Protest Movements and Civil Society in the Arab World: Attitudes Towards the Civil State
The Arab Spring revolutions sought to transform governing systems through demands for political rights, public freedoms, social justice, and human dignity. However, they failed to establish the foundations of a civil state, largely due to structural and geopolitical constraints rooted in the historical formation of the modern state in the Arab region from the early nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Although Arab constitutions formally guarantee political rights and public liberties for all citizens, ruling regimes have systematically imposed extensive restrictions that hollow out these constitutional commitments. Through the use of martial law and exceptional legislation, political authorities have endowed themselves with broad discretionary powers to curtail freedoms and violate the dignity of individuals suspected of opposing the regime, invoking national security and state sovereignty as legitimising justifications.
The literature on the nation-state in the Arab world highlights a set of distinctive institutional, economic, and political characteristics that structure the relationship between governing institutions, ruling regimes, and citizens. These characteristics have been shaped by colonial legacies and the continued political and economic interventions of major powers. Such conditions have constrained the development of democratic governance led by elected elites committed to the protection of rights and freedoms.
This paper examines the positions adopted by civil society and social protest movements during the Arab Spring. It extends this analysis to investigate the reasons behind the non-realisation of the demands articulated by these actors for the establishment of a civil state.
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