Political Aid and Arab Activism
Democracy Promotion, Justice, and Representation

Details the effects of political aid in the Middle East by analyzing discursive and professional practices in four key subfields.

Sheila Carapico (Author)

9780521199919, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 November 2013

261 pages, 7 b/w illus. 3 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm, 0.48 kg

'[This book] provides a refreshing perspective on the promotion of democracy and on politics of the Middle East. It analyzes the role of North American, European, and other transnational agencies in promoting human rights and democratization in the Middle East over the last two decades. …Political Aid and Arab Activism ranks as one of the most important works published on the involvement of Western and other transnational agencies in Arab transitions from authoritarianism.' Wanda Krause, Academic Council on the United Nations System (www.acuns.org)

What does it mean to promote 'transitions to democracy' in the Middle East? How have North American, European and multilateral projects advanced human rights, authoritarian retrenchment or Western domination? This book examines transnational programs in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Yemen, Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, the exceptional cases of Palestine and Iraq, and the Arab region at large during two tumultuous decades. To understand the controversial and contradictory effects of political aid, Sheila Carapico analyzes discursive and professional practices in four key subfields: the rule of law, electoral design and monitoring, women's political empowerment and civil society. From the institutional arrangements for extraordinary undertakings such as Saddam Hussein's trial or Palestinian elections to routine templates for national women's machineries or NGO networks, her research explores the paradoxes and jurisdictional disputes confronted by Arab activists for justice, representation and 'non-governmental' agency.

Introduction: democracy promotion in theory and practice
1. Legal jurisdictions
2. Electoral representation
3. Patronizing women
4. Denationalizing civic activism
Conclusions: political aid for justice, representation, equality, and freedom.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Politics & government [JP]