Quest for Democracy
Liberalism in the Modern Arab World

Examines the underground and overlooked actors and activities of liberal activism and liberal counter-cultures in the modern Arab world.

Line Khatib (Author)

9781108710978, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 November 2022

288 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.3 cm, 0.37 kg

'Her work is truly imaginative as it shows how liberal movements evolved across generations … Most Western readers will find the names and movements Khatib documents as unfamiliar. While the region is known for illiberalism, most Western intellectuals know about Arab liberalism. However, few know much more than they have a political presence. Khatib removes the veil through a detailed history.' Justin Kempf, Democracy Paradox blog (https://democracyparadox.com)

Since the uprisings of 2010 and 2011, it has often been assumed that the politics of the Arab-speaking world is dominated, and will continue to be dominated, by orthodox Islamic thought and authoritarian politics. Challenging these assumptions, Line Khatib explores the current liberal movement in the region, examining its activists and intellectuals, their work, and the strengths and weaknesses of the movement as a whole. By investigating the underground and overlooked actors and activists of liberal activism, Khatib problematizes the ways in which Arab liberalism has been dismissed as an insignificant sociopolitical force, or a mere reaction to Western formulations of liberal politics. Instead, she demonstrates how Arab liberalism is a homegrown phenomenon that has influenced the politics of the region since the nineteenth century. Shedding new light on an understudied movement, Khatib provokes a re-evaluation of the existing literature and offers new ways of conceptualizing the future of liberalism and democracy in the modern Arab world.

Introduction
1. 19th-Mid 20th century: Paternalistic liberalism and planting the seeds of democracy
2. 1960s to the 1990s: The loss of the state and the shift in focus and approach
3. The 2000s: The no longer politically quiet and secret activism and the more visible buildup
4. Liberalism out in the open, the restitution and the loss
Conclusion
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Revolutionary groups & movements [JPWQ], Demonstrations & protest movements [JPWF], Religious & theocratic ideologies [JPFR], Liberalism & centre democratic ideologies [JPFK], History of ideas [JFCX]