Drawing on Arabic texts, political theory and a detailed survey of donors and local organizations, this book challenges culturalist views that there cannot be a ‘vibrant civil society’ in the Arab world and examines the issues of depoliticization of civil society, the rise of the Islamist sector, and the gradual defeat of the left in the Occupied Territories. The author looks at how the interaction between donors and NGOs is not only centred on a western model of civil society, but also evolves around institutional mechanisms and disciplinary discourses, affecting the ability of local NGOs to adapt to the institutional requirements set by international donors.
Accessible to non-specialists, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, Middle Eastern studies and development studies.
Benoît Challand is a research fellow at the European University Institute in Florence (Italy) and has taught at the universities of Bologna, Bethlehem, Pavia and Fribourg.