active arab voices

المواطنة وتحدياتها

يسعد معهد الأصفري للمجتمع المدني والمواطنة في الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت أن يطرح هذا الإصدار بالتعاون مع مؤسسة القرن لمناقشة مشاكل وتحديات المواطنة في المنطقة العربية والتوقف على أسباب تعذّر إستقرار المفهوم وممارساته سواء من قبل الأفراد أو النظم السياسية الحاكمة في المنطقة. وقد تم الإتفاق بين المعهد والمؤسسة على ترجمة أربع أوراق بحثية نشرتها مؤسسة القرن العام الماضي، وقام معهد الأصفري بترجمتها للّغة العربية سعياً لتنشيط الجدل بين المتحدثين باللغة العربية حول معنى المواطنة وإرتباطها بمدخل الحقوق الكونية وما تستلزمه من إعتراف بالتعددية واحترام الإختلافات الدينية والإثنية والاجتماعية وتجاوز الثنائيات الصفرية في ما يتعلق بالحقوق المترتبة علي هذا المبدأ الكوني

FEATURED READINGS

LEBANON PROTESTS

Lebanon PROTESTS

LEBANON PROTESTS

The Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship has compiled for this feature a list of various readings
on the unprecedented waves of protests that first erupted in Beirut
and stretched across the country, from Tripoli to Tyre.

Statement:
We Stand with the Iraqi Uprising

The following statement by diasporas Iraqi academics was issued on 11 November 2019 in solidarity with the current Iraqi uprising.

This uprising is inclusive, women, especially young women, are very active and participate despite the repression and the backlash from security forces and armed groups.

In partnership with Jadaliyya, Active Arab Voices is publishing this piece, and others listed below, on the Iraqi protests:

تجديد الخطاب الريفي

يكتب محمد أمزيان

بعد مرور ثلاث سنوات على طحن الشهيد محسن فكري وانطلاق شرارة حراك الريف، وما تداعى بعد ذلك من أحداث، هل استوعبنا طبيعة الصراع القائم بين الريف والمركز؟

في تقديري، هذا سؤال مطروح الآن، وبحدة، خاصة بعد أن دخل مسار حراك الريف نفقَ التآكل الداخلي، وانتقلت مسألة الدفاع عن الريف من دائرة الحقوق والعدالة الاجتماعية والإنصاف، إلى متاهاتِ نقاشٍ فرعي عقيم حول “الشرعية”. من يمتلك شرعية تمثيل الحراك؟ من يحق له وحده الدفاع عنه؟

يسقط الوزير القادم

ثورة 17 تشرين هي ملك الناس وحدهم، لا مكان فيها لأي مشاريع وتدخلات شخصية أو خارجية، كما لا مكان فيها للمتسلّقين والطامحين والانتهازيين الذين يدّعون تمثيل مطالب الثوار والتوزّر عنهم. الشرعية لأي كان تأتي فقط من الشعب عبر انتخابات واستفتاءات، والشعب الآن يطالب ولا يفاوض، يُعانِد ولا يُعيِّن. الثورة حقّقت أوّل إنجاز بتطيير حكومة المحاصصة والفساد، ولكنّ الوصول للمطالب التالية يمرّ حكماً بالطبقة الحاكمة

من أجل قراءة المزيد حول الانتفاضة في لبنان، انقر هنا

Migration: Refugee Regimes:
Arab States/Mashreq

The article provides a brief history of refugees in Lebanon and of the transformations in the identity and politics of humanitarian governance. This history helps contextualize the experiences and vulnerabilities of refugee women and girls by identifying the various

actors, institutions, and programs involved in governing them, as well as the bureaucracies and policies adopted in countries of first asylum. By following the journey of displacement, life in countries of first asylum, and the ways of becoming a refugee, this article traces the gendered governance of refugees in the Middle East

Elections in the Post-Revolution:
A Simple and Democratic Framework

Written by: Carmen Geha

Carmen Geha is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration with a specialization in leadership, human resources, and organizational development at the American University of Beirut (AUB).
She is also a scholar, and an activist.

Reforming the electoral law is a crucial step in responding to the demands of the millions of Lebanese protestors. The priority here and now is to form a competent government which can oversee this reform and administer early elections. Elections in Lebanon are very complicated and are maintained through a complex web of clientelism. And yet at any time we have proposed reforms to the system, the political class either refused the reforms entirely or said that they were too complicated to manage. Take something as simple as the pre-printed ballot paper, which Lebanon only introduced in 2018.

To read more about the protest movement in Lebanon, click HERE

What the Taming of Christian Spaces
Reveals about Egypt’s Security Complex

The safety of Coptic persons and property cannot be guaranteed through exclusive reliance on the security state, in part because the social consequences of securitization worsen the conditions that lead to Christian insecurity. While protecting houses of worship and religious events are an important part of a long-term solution, a sustainable strategy demands changes in education, employment practices, and respect for personal status laws that have long been neglected. Addressing the pervasive social, economic, and political discrimination against Copts in Egypt requires strategies that metal detectors, armored vehicles, and guns can’t solve

Refugee Movements in the Middle East;
Old Crises, New Ideas

The MENA region has been dealing with waves of refugee crises for decades. Addressing urban and protracted refugee crises in the region contributed to triggering reflection on the global governance of refugee protection.

The Global Compact on Refugees now sets out the parameters for stronger solidarity and responsibility-sharing, based on multi-stakeholder partnerships, inclusive and comprehensive solutions, and stronger emphasis on host community support and engagement as the new way forward.

The people’s movement in Algeria,
eight months on

Within seven weeks of its start on February 22nd, 2019, the people’s revolt (Harak) in Algeria forced the cancelation of the presidential elections scheduled for mid-April and shook the then teetering power equilibrium to its core. The militaro-oligarchic tripod, composed of the Presidency, Military High Command (MHC), Intelligence, and their respective foreign patronage and clientelist networks, which had carefully been crafted over the previous three decades, was dealt a significant blow by a peaceful but determined people’s movement. Yet despite these gains, the movement has been struggling against a three-dimensional counter-revolutionary constellation bent on aborting the potential of the movement and reproducing the system under a new guise

This wave of global protest is being led
by the children of the financial crash

From east Asia to Latin America, northern Europe to the Middle East, there are young people gathering in stairwells, back alleys and basements whose faces display a similar blend of exhilaration and exhaustion

Click on the Red Dot
for the event info

UPCOMING:

Book Launch - Threats and Alliances in the Middle East: Saudi and Syrian Policies in a Turbulent Region
Workshop - TSM: Access to Public Services and Natural Resources

JUST MISSED:

Seminar - The Key for Change: Learning from Women's Initiatives in the Arab World
Public Lecture - Displaced Syrians in Lebanon’s Refugee Crisis: Gender and Humanitarian Aid Activism
Panel Discussion - Citizenship and its Discontents

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