Civil Society in the Muslim World: Contemporary Perspectives

Even before the events of September 11th 2001, the global discourse on civil society--in its varied interpretations and manifestations--has caught the attention of citizens and communities across the Muslim world from Iran, Tajikistan and Indonesia, to the Mahgreb. Issues of human rights, pluralism and gender equity were already at the forefront of the wider quest for participatory politics. This survey of social and intellectual trends in diverse Muslim contexts includes contributions by Shirin Akiner, Mohammed Arkoun, Aziz Esmial, Tair Faradov, Abdou Filali-Ansary, Ersin Kalaycioglu, Iftikhar Malik, Ziba Mir-Hosseini and Oliver Roy.