Rethinking Arab Democratization by Larbi Sadiki

Rethinking Arab Democratization by Larbi Sadiki

The book unpacks the rise of Arab electoralism narrating the story of stalled democratic transition in the Arab Middle East. The book provides a balance sheet of the state of Arab democratization from the mid-1970s up to 2008. In seeking to answer the question of how Arab countries democratize and whether they are democratizing at all, the book pays attention to specificity, highlighting the peculiarities of democratic transitions in the Arab Middle East. In so doing, it situates the discussion of such transitions firmly within their local contexts, but without losing sight of the global picture, namely, the US drive to control and 'democratize' the Arab World. It rejects 'exceptionalism' 'foundationalism' and 'Orientalism', by showing that the Arab World is not immured from the global trend towards political liberalization. But by identifying new trends in Arab democratic transitions and highlighting their peculiarities and drawing on Arab neglected discourses and voices, the book pinpoints the contingency of some of the arguments underlying Western theories of democratic transition when applied to the Arab setting.Oxford Studies in Democratization is a series for scholars and students of comparative politics and related disciplines. Volumes concentrate on the comparative study of the democratization process that accompanied the decline and termination of the cold war. The geographical focus of the series is primarily Latin America, the Caribbean, Southern and Eastern Europe, and relevant experiences in Africa and Asia. The series editor is Laurence Whitehead, Official Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.

This impressive book offers a probing analysis of Arab electoralism as part of a penetrating larger critique of the applicability of Western democratic 'transitology' to the Arab worldEmploying an effective blend of scholarly research and practical political insights, Sadiki presents a useful alternative lens that is true to local realities without sacrificing core democratic ideals. * Thomas Carothers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. *
This is an invaluable, empirically rich exploration of the pitfalls, detours and dead-ends on the variety of paths that may lead to democratization in the Arab world, or may not. If Larbi Sadiki reveals a residual optimism about the future, it is only after he has presented an exhaustive examination of the manoeuvres and barriers that Arab political elites deploy to sustain privilege and stifle freedom. Larbi Sadiki reveals an informed empathy for the dynamic non-elite social and political forces that seek greater freedom and greater justice. He is perceptive, thoughtful and persuasive, which is why his book will quickly be recognized as the indispensible and authoritative volume to read on the topic. * Augustus Richard Norton, Boston University. *
The author combines to great advantage a close and critical familiarity with the politics of the Arab Middle East and Islamic culture with equally close knowledge of the relevant Western democratization literature. The result is a remarkable book that greatly advances our knowledge of those countries and of their -- surely convoluted but not inexistent -- possible paths toward democracy. * Guillermo O'Donnell, University of Notre Dame. *

Larbi Sadiki specializes on Arab democratization, a subject he teaches at the University of Exeter, where he is Director of the Middle East Politics Programme. He has published widely on the question of democratic transitions in the Arab Middle East. He has been researching two separate projects on Islamist notions of democracy, with special reference to Hamas and Hizbullah, titles of forthcoming works he is currently authoring. His first book on Arab democratization (Columbia, 2004) has been translated into Arabic and is widely used as the key reference on notions of Arab democracy.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780199562985
ISBN 10	0199562989
Title	Rethinking Arab Democratization
Author	Larbi Sadiki
Series	Oxford Studies In Democratization
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Year published	2009-02-12
Number of pages	344
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.