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This book examines the ways in which Arab civil society actors have attempted to influence public policies. In particular, the book studies the drive towards a change of policies that affect women and their well-being. It does so through the lens of women civil society activism and through analysis of cases of policy reform in three Arab countries namely: Lebanon, Morocco and Yemen. The book addresses the tension between policy change and state repression; between Islamic traditional/religious values and civil/secular ones; between the formal and the informal channels for policy-making. One of the first books to reflect on the capability of Arab civil society actors to influence change, it traces recent policy evolution from before the Arab Uprisings in 2011 until the present day, and describes the limited ability of civil society actors to induce change and substantiate it over recent decades. The book explores the use of policy theories in the analysis of cases, and reflects on the possibility of applying and "adapting" those concepts, largely applied in the Western world, to encompass policymaking in the Arab world without conceptual 'overstretch'.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 2. 'Civil Societies' and the Arab Uprisings-Prospects for Socio-Political Change: A Comparative Analysis of the On-Going Tunisian and Egyptian Plight.- 3. The Political Participation of Women in The Arab World: Mapping the Movement, Experiences and Challenges Facing Arab Women from the Beginning of the Twentieth Century until the Post-Arab Uprisings Era: Expectations, Paths and Outcomes.- 4. Civil Society Advocacy and Policy Entrepreneurship: Examining the Making of the Law 293 to Criminalize Domestic Violence in Lebanon.- 5. Empowering Women through Land Policy Change: The "Soulaliyate" Movement in Morocco.- 6. Minimum Marriagable Age Legislation in Yemen, 2008-2014: Exploring Some Limits to Portability of the Act.- 7. Sysiphus is a Woman: Policymaking on Women Issues in Three Arab Countries.
About the author
Nasser Yassin is Director of Research at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, and professor of policy and planning at the Health Management and Policy Department at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon.
Robert Hoppe is Professor of Knowledge and Public Policy in the Faculty of Management and Governance, Twente University, the Netherlands. He is also Senior Nonresidential Fellow of the American University of Beirut’s (AUB) Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Relations, Lebanon.
Summary
This book examines the ways in which Arab civil society actors have attempted to influence public policies. In particular, the book studies the drive towards a change of policies that affect women and their well-being. It does so through the lens of women civil society activism and through analysis of cases of policy reform in three Arab countries namely: Lebanon, Morocco and Yemen. The book addresses the tension between policy change and state repression; between Islamic traditional/religious values and civil/secular ones; between the formal and the informal channels for policy-making. One of the first books to reflect on the capability of Arab civil society actors to influence change, it traces recent policy evolution from before the Arab Uprisings in 2011 until the present day, and describes the limited ability of civil society actors to induce change and substantiate it over recent decades. The book explores the use of policy theories in the analysis of cases, and reflects on the possibility of applying and “adapting” those concepts, largely applied in the Western world, to encompass policymaking in the Arab world without conceptual 'overstretch'.
