The Humanities Center Lectures, 2009-2010: Global Connections, Global Responsibilities

Co-sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Applied Ethics and Political Philosophy (CAAEPP).

NGOs, Civil Society, and Human Rights in Egypt and the Middle East

Maha Abdel-Rahman, Thursday, March 25, 2010

4:30pm, Porter Hall 100 (Gregg Hall)

Maha Abdel-Rahman is University Lecturer in Development Studies at the Centre of International Studies, University of Cambridge.

Since the 1980s, civil society, and in particular its most prominent element – NGOs -  has been hailed by policy makers, international donor organizations and political activists alike as the flag bearer of a new paradigm in development and as a panacea for all the ills of the failed state-led project for economic and political development. In the Middle East, in particular, NGOs were further entrusted with the goal of challenging the authoritarian regimes in these countries and ushering in a new era of democratization. This talk/paper challenges such assumptions about the potential role of NGOs as vehicles for social and political transformation. It brings into focus the inherent structural weaknesses of these organizations, and critically examines the space of civil society as a whole, especially with regards to questions of accountability, financial dependence, lack of mass support, and NGOs’ tendency to reproduce authoritarian tendencies in society. The talk/paper, however, also focuses on recent developments in the Middle East which have been taking place in the sphere of civil society in the first decade of the 21st century. Several countries in this region have been witnessing the rise of ‘protest movements’ representing the demands of many sectors of the population - demands varying from a desire for greater political freedom to a need for improved welfare. These movements have benefited from the support of global social movements which provide these domestic actors with both international support as well as tools for action. The paper examines these transnational links and their potential for social and political change in the region.

The Humanities Center, www.hss.cmu.edu/humanitiescenter, is supported in part by a National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant.