Books by Limor Lavie
Traces the genealogy of the Western philosophic concept of the civil state, how that concept was ... more Traces the genealogy of the Western philosophic concept of the civil state, how that concept was assimilated into Egyptian political thought, and how it affected the 2013 coup against President Mursi.
How is the concept of the civil state understood in Arab countries? In The Battle over a Civil State, Limor Lavie examines how this important concept, which originated in Western philosophy, became incorporated into Arab discourse. The civil state as understood in Arab political discourse, Lavie argues, attempts to bridge Islamic history and culture with modernity. It is an attempt to forge a middle ground between a purely theocratic rule and a purely secular rule, and a solution for the tensions between a desire to catch up with global modernization and democratization processes and the desire to reject those same processes. In the political discourse of most of the Arab Spring countries, the concept of the civil state played a pivotal role. In the public debate over the character of Egypt, in particular, following the January 25, 2011 uprising, the demand to establish a civil state was shared by all the political currents. However, when these currents sought to set out basic guidelines for Egypt’s future, it soon became clear that they were far from reaching a consensus, and that the concept of the civil state was at the heart of the controversy between them. The struggle over Egypt’s civil character in the post-Mubarak era was the main reason for the turbulence the country experienced on June 30, 2013—leading to the ouster of President Muhammad Mursi.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Review of The Battle over a Civil State by Limor Lavie
Democratization, 2020
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Refereed Articles In Peer-Reviewed Journals by Limor Lavie
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2024
The 2011 Egyptian uprising, which ended President Husni Mubarak’s thirty-year rule, initially pai... more The 2011 Egyptian uprising, which ended President Husni Mubarak’s thirty-year rule, initially painted him as a pharaoh. However, more than a decade after his overthrow, Mubarak’s image has been variedly invoked and embodied across Egypt. Schools, hospitals, streets, and squares proudly bear his name. Social media groups glorify his memory, while locals openly express longing for his era. Unlike other deposed Arab leaders during the “Arab Spring,” Mubarak received a state military funeral, elevating him to a revered patriot and hero. This paper explores the constructions of Mubarak’s image in Egyptian collective memory, at the official and vernacular levels. The paper’s core argument emphasizes that during the transition period, revolutionary forces shaped a negative public memory of Mubarak. Yet in recent years, the resurgence of authoritarianism has marginalized these forces, allowing pro-Mubarak factions to advance a positive depiction, idealizing his legacy, and fostering feelings of regret. The post-June 2013 official narrative regarding Mubarak delicately maneuvers between these competing narratives. It exalts his military role in the 1973 war while undermining his political heritage, thereby preventing any single narrative from dominating and thwarting influential factions in civil society from challenging the regime’s resilience with a political alternative.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Middle Eastern Studies, 2023
This paper examines the relationship between al-Azhar and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) following t... more This paper examines the relationship between al-Azhar and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) following the 2011 Egyptian uprising. While the interplay between them in the pre-revolutionary period was mostly shaped by the gap between the status of al-Azhar as a body of statist Islam and the MB as a dissident Islamist movement, Mubarak’s downfall yielded a change in their status, raising the question of its effect on their attitude toward one another. Though on the face of it, following Morsi’s ouster, al-Azhar seems to have reverted to its traditional position of backing the de-legitimization campaign of the authoritarian regime against the MB, the paper portrays a more intricate picture: not one of close affinity during the MB’s rule despite the potential to realize common interests and advocate centrist Islam, but one of competition over religious authority; not one of utter hostility following al-Azhar’s support of the coup, but one of restrained conflict.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Religions, 2023
This article examines the idea of ustāḏiyyat al-ʿālam (mastership of the world), in the political... more This article examines the idea of ustāḏiyyat al-ʿālam (mastership of the world), in the political thought of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Ustāḏiyyat al-ʿālam was formulated by the movements’ founder, Ḥasan al-Bannā, as the ultimate goal of the MB, the last of a gradual seven-stage plan to Islamize the individual, the family, society, the government, and the state, and restore the caliphate. In an attempt to unpack this abstract concept, this article offers a contextualized reading of its use in the foundational tracts of the MB general guides, and in pertinent commentaries on some of these tracts. We point to an inherent ambiguity in the concept, which intertwines ideational and active elements of domination, ranging between the homiletical task of propagating Islam to the world and striving to rule the world. Within the MB, ustāḏiyyat al-ʿālam is found to serve alternately as a privileged status of the Islamic nation, a duty, a mechanism of power legitimation, and as a source of motivation in times of despair, while utilized in anti-MB campaigns to discredit the MB and curb its internationalization.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Middle East Journal, 2023
Based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of opinion columns in the Egyptian state newspaper... more Based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of opinion columns in the Egyptian state newspaper Al-Ahram during Mohamed Morsi's 2012-13 presidency, this article argues that columnists substantially shifted to critical commentary on government policies and advanced an oppositional political agenda. Seeking to delegitimize the Muslim Brotherhood, the newspaper's columns continued to promote the worldview of the non-Islamist elite that had been privileged under the prerevolutionary regime. Only a small number of columns sided with Morsi and his allies. These findings support the claim that Egypt's established political institutions helped undermine Morsi's electoral legitimacy.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal of Arabian Studies, 2022
Since the Arab uprisings, the ambiguous notion of a civil state (dawla madaniyya) has been gainin... more Since the Arab uprisings, the ambiguous notion of a civil state (dawla madaniyya) has been gaining a foothold in many Arab states as the ideal state model, at the official and popular levels. Even Saudi Arabia has heard voices advocating a civil state. Whereas such voices were evident in critical newspaper columns, which raised countercriticism by the Saudi religious orthodoxy during the 2000s and 2010s, recently Crown Prince Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Saʿūd has been increasingly portrayed in the Saudi media as directing the Kingdom toward a modern Islamic civil state, indicating a possible change in the perception of this concept. This article offers a contextual analysis of the Saudi intellectual polemic on the civil state model, which has been taking place for the past fifteen years, its development, meanings, and prospects. The article will also consider the implications of the long-standing debate over the civil state idea taking place in Egypt on the short-lived Saudi contestation, in an effort to enhance the overall understanding of the conception of the civil state in the Arab world.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
כתב העת הבינתחומי ללימודי המזרח התיכון, 2022
עד לאחרונה נחשבה תוניסיה, חלוצת “האביב הערבי”, ליחידה בין מדינות ערב שנפילתו של שליטהּ העריץ בהתק... more עד לאחרונה נחשבה תוניסיה, חלוצת “האביב הערבי”, ליחידה בין מדינות ערב שנפילתו של שליטהּ העריץ בהתקוממות העממית נחלה הצלחה והולידה דמוקרטיזציה של ממש. אולם בשנה האחרונה עשתה תוניסיה “סיבוב פרסה” והצטרפה לרשימת המדינות שעוברות מהפכה נגדית או הפיכה צבאית המלווה בשיבת האוטוריטריות. ב־25 ביולי 2021, יום השנה ה־64 להכרזת הרפובליקה, החל הנשיא קייס סעיד, שעלה לשלטון ב־2019 בבחירות דמוקרטיות, בתהליך חזרה לאחור לדפוסי השלטון שהיו נהוגים לפני נפילתו של זין אל־עאבדין בן עלי בראשית 2011. בין היתר, הוא השעה את הממשלה ופיזר את הפרלמנט שבראשו עמד ראשד אל־ע’נושי, מנהיג המפלגה הגדולה במדינה, מפלגת אל־נהצ’ה האסלאמיסטית. בדיוק שנה מאז החל סעיד במסע זה, ב־25 ביולי 2022, נערך בתוניסיה משאל עם על חוקה חדשה המשלימה את סדרת המהלכים הללו. החוקה, שאושרה ברוב של 94.6%, עומדת במוקדו של מאמר זה.
פרשנים ואנשי תקשורת הקדישו את עיקר תשומת הלב בעיסוקם בחוקה התוניסאית החדשה להתגלמותו של כישלון הניסיון הדמוקרטי התוניסאי בה, המסמל את כישלון “האביב הערבי” בכללותו. מאמר זה מבקש להפנות את הזרקור למגמה אחרת המשתקפת בחוקה זו והיא הירידה בדומיננטיות של האסלאם, תמונת מראה של קריסתן הפוליטית של התנועות האסלאמיסטיות לאחר עלייתן המטאורית בתוניסיה ובמדינות ערב אחרות. המאמר מנתח את השינויים בסעיפי הזהות בחוקה החדשה מתוך שתי נקודות מבט. האחת, בהשוואה לשתי החוקות שקדמו לה (1959, 2014); והשנייה, ביחס למעמד האסלאם בחוקותיהן של יתר מדינות ערב. טענת המאמר היא כי חוקתה החדשה של תוניסיה מבטאת מגמה של הרחקת הדת מהמדינה. הנסיגה במעמד האסלאם היא חסרת תקדים בהיסטוריה החוקתית של תוניסיה מאז קבלת העצמאות, ולא היה כדוגמתה במרבית מדינות ערב שרוב תושביהן מוסלמים. מעבר לממד הסמלי, לתמורה זו עשויה להיות השפעה מעשית על החוק התוניסאי, על מוסדות הדת והחינוך, ועל מדינות ערב אחרות אם תאמצנה שינויים דומים לחוקותיהן בעקבות תוניסיה.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Contemporary Review of the Middle East, 2022
This article offers a new perspective on the extensive discussion of the role of new media in fac... more This article offers a new perspective on the extensive discussion of the role of new media in facilitating the 2011 Egyptian uprising by placing it within the historical context of how the state responded to new media in the previous decades. This article uses an archaeological analysis of state media to reveal how the state coped with the news media (newspapers, radio, television, satellite television) in the past to infer the present relationship between the state and the new media (the internet and social media). We discerned a recurring cyclical pattern characterized by a dynamic of openness-adaptation-narrowing, which sheds light on the media's ability to challenge state authority and on the state's ability to contain and limit new media. We suggest that the role of the internet and social media in the Egyptian "Arab Spring" should be viewed as being on this continuum, as an extension of processes of state-media relations that had developed in the preceding decades.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Digest of Middle East Studies, 2021
Drawing from scholarship on authoritarian adaptation and insight from legitimacy theory, we seek ... more Drawing from scholarship on authoritarian adaptation and insight from legitimacy theory, we seek to examine to what degree the renewal of authoritarianism under ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi in post-revolutionary Egypt can be understood as the establishment of a new political order with its own patterns of legitimation. The main focus of the discussion is al-Sisi's adaptation of legitimization strategies designed to justify his rule and ensure stability under severe repression and economic reforms. We discuss al-Sisi
claims of personal legitimacy as a substitute for institutional legitimacy, his missionary role as a substitute for ideology, and his reshaped eudaemonic legitimacy. All these legitimation strategies are formulated while rejecting the 2011 revolutionary legitimation and its promises for democracy. Such analysis, which goes beyond coercion or institutional explanations for authoritarian adaptation, scrutinizes the conceptual
reconstruction of authoritarianism as a tool to ensure the consent of the citizens and their legitimacy to the renewal of authoritarianism.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Religions, 2021
This paper offers a contextualized analysis of the way in which three Islamic constitutions—in Eg... more This paper offers a contextualized analysis of the way in which three Islamic constitutions—in Egypt (2014/2019), Tunisia (2014), and Yemen (2015)—came to a similar self-declaration of a “civil state” (dawla madaniyya), following the Arab uprisings. This self-expressive proclamation, which did not exist in their former constitutions, nor in any other constitution worldwide, is the product of the ongoing internal struggles of Muslim societies over the definition of their collectivity between conservatism and modernity, religiosity and secularism. In Egypt, the self-definition of a civil state enshrines the one-sided narrative of the June 2013 coup regime and the Armed Forces’ intrusive move into the field of state–religion relations; in Tunisia, the constitutionalization of the civil state reflects a settlement between Islamists and non-Islamists regarding the role of Islam in politics and legislation; in Yemen, it expresses an aspiration of detribalization and modernization within an Islamic model of statehood. The paper further seeks to trace the path of migration of this idea from one country to another, and the interconnectedness between the three cases, while pointing out possible implications on future constitution making in other Muslim countries.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Die Welt des Islams, 2021
This article aims a spotlight at an unusual chapter in the development of the Egyptian regimes’ p... more This article aims a spotlight at an unusual chapter in the development of the Egyptian regimes’ policy toward antisemitism in the state media. While the various regimes allowed anti-Jewish speech in the governmental media since its nationalization by the Nasserite regime and used it for acquiring legitimacy, this article points to a different policy adopted by the Mubārak regime, following 11 September 2001. From the end of 2002, the Egyptian regime redirected the journalistic editing guidelines to cease anti-Jewish hate speech, resulting in a considerable decrease in the volume of anti-Jewish expressions and desecration of the Holocaust memory, until Mubārak’s downfall in 2011. This change was motivated by the regime’s concern for its political survival and economic interests, which were endangered by the democratization policy of the Bush Administration that linked the effort to combat terrorism and anti-Americanism in the Middle East with the struggle against antisemitism.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Strategic Assessment, 2021
מאמר זה הוא פרי שיתוף פעולה בין הסוציולוג המצרי עבדאללה שלבי, מרצה באוניברסיטת עין שמס וממקימיה ש... more מאמר זה הוא פרי שיתוף פעולה בין הסוציולוג המצרי עבדאללה שלבי, מרצה באוניברסיטת עין שמס וממקימיה של תנועה חדשה הקוראת לחילון במצרים, לבין ד"ר לימור לביא, חוקרת מאוניברסיטת בר-אילן העוסקת ביחסי דת-מדינה במצרים. המאמר מציע ניתוח קונטקסטואלי של עיקרי רעיונותיה של תנועת חילון זו, כפי שהציגם שלבי בכנס השנתי של החוג ללימודי הערבית והאסלאם באוניברסיטת תל-אביב במאי 2020. המאמר מבקש להעריך את הגורמים להתעוררותה של תנועה כגון זו במצרים בת-זמננו, את תביעותיה לשינוי ואת משקלה בשיח הציבורי, ולעמוד על ההבדל בין הקריאה לחילוניות לבין קריאות נפוצות יותר בעולם הערבי לכינונן של מדינות אזרחיות, מאז 'האביב הערבי'.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2021
The 'Jasmine Revolution' that toppled Tunisian president Zine al-‘Abidine Ben ‘Ali on January 14,... more The 'Jasmine Revolution' that toppled Tunisian president Zine al-‘Abidine Ben ‘Ali on January 14, 2011, and the January 25, 2011, uprising that toppled President Husni Mubarak had similar characteristics yet different outcomes. While the Tunisian experience led to democratization and to a non-violent transfer of power, the Egyptian one led to a reversion to authoritarianism through a military coup and to bloodshed. This paper suggests that the key to understanding the diverse outcomes of the Arab Spring in these countries is the prevalence of consensus/dissensus in each society over the most suitable state model for the post-revolutionary era. The existence of an agreed-upon vision for the post-Arab Spring state in Tunisia – a vision of a 'civil state' – and a wide controversy over such a model in Egypt was a pivotal factor influencing the level of socio-political cohesion during the transitional period, hence determining whether it is destined for success or failure. The prior agreement between Islamist and Secularist opposition groups over the civil state model spared Tunisia the turmoil that Egypt went through due to the polarization over the desired state model in the post-Mubarak era, which served as a catalyst for the 2013 soft coup against the Muslim Brothers elected regime.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Middle Eastern Studies, 2017
This article outlines a transition process in the development of the doctrine of the Muslim Broth... more This article outlines a transition process in the development of the doctrine of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt. From a model of an all-Islamic state, in which religious directives dictate the ways of state and society, to a model of a civil state i.e. a nation-state run by familiar modern institutions (such as parliament and elections) and according to a man-made constitution, within the limitations of Muslim Sharia.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Middle East Journal, 2017
The model of the " civil state " (dawla madaniyya) occupies a central place in the public debate ... more The model of the " civil state " (dawla madaniyya) occupies a central place in the public debate over the character of Egypt following the January 25 Revolution of 2011. The demand to establish a civil state was ostensibly shared by all the political currents in Egypt. However, when these currents attempted to set out agreed-upon guidelines for Egypt's future, it soon became clear that they were far from a consensus, and that defining the civil state was at the heart of the controversy. This article examines the roots of this concept in Western political philosophy, tracing its evolution in Egypt from its first appearance in the beginning of the 20 th century until the recent debate on its inclusion in Article 1 of the 2014 constitution.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
המזרח החדש, 2016
מאמר זה ממפה את הפרשנויות העיקריות של המושג מדינה אזרחית
בשיח הרעיוני במצרים. הוא מצביע על ציוני ... more מאמר זה ממפה את הפרשנויות העיקריות של המושג מדינה אזרחית
בשיח הרעיוני במצרים. הוא מצביע על ציוני דרך מרכזיים באבולוציה של המושג
ועוקב אחר הטרנספורמציות שעבר, הפנמתו בקרב מעצבי דעת קהל והשפעתו על
ההתנהגות הפוליטית משלהי שנות ה־ 70 של המאה העשרים ועד לדיונים על אפשרות
הגדרתה של מצרים בסעיף הראשון בחוקת 2014 כמדינה אזרחית, בדגש על התקופה
שלאחר מהפכת ה־ 25 בינואר2011
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
המזרח החדש, 2013
מאמר זה מתמקד בנסיבות הפוליטיות להקמת השוק הערבי המשותף והסיבות לכישלונו, מאז הועלה לראשונה בראשי... more מאמר זה מתמקד בנסיבות הפוליטיות להקמת השוק הערבי המשותף והסיבות לכישלונו, מאז הועלה לראשונה בראשית שנות החמישים ועד שקיעתו בראשית שנות השבעים. טענתי המרכזית היא, שאחד המניעים החשובים לרעיון השוק הערבי המשותף היה החשש מישראל ומניסיונות השתלבותה באירופה. כצעד במסגרת החרם הכלכלי שהטילו המדינות הערביות על ישראל בעקבות תבוסתן לה במלחמת 1948 , הוקם השוק המשותף כדי לסכל את מאמצי הצטרפותה של ישראל לשוק האירופי המשותף, שהוקם בשנת 1957.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
McGill Journal of Middle East Studies, 2010
The main concerns of this paper are the motivations for the establishment of the Arab Common Mark... more The main concerns of this paper are the motivations for the establishment of the Arab Common Market (ACM) in 1964, its implementation, and the causes for its failure. I will argue that the founding and development of the ACM are consistently linked to the emergence and unfolding of the economic relations between the European Common Market (EEC) and Israel from the late 1950s until the second half of the 1970. The main claim of this paper is that a primary motive for the establishment of the ACM was Israel’s attempts at economic cooperation with Europe. The ACM was formed as part of the Arab boycott on Israel, in order to keep this country from joining the EEC. Pan-Arab ideas that gained currency in the Arab world during the Nasserite era, created a suitable atmosphere for the creation of the ACM. As for Its failure, it was due not only to the weak economic basis of this union, but also to the disillusionment of the Arab world with the pan-Arab ideals following the Arab defeat in 1967, to political tensions between the Arab states, and to the decline in Egypt's regional status versus the rise in the status of the oil countries, which were not members of the ACM.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Refereed Chapters in Edited Volumes by Limor Lavie
Uzi Rabi and Mira Tzoreff (eds) From the 1919 Revolution to the 2011 Uprising: A History of Three Egyptian Thawras Reconsidered (London: Routledge, 2024), pp. 67-86., 2024
One of the most controversial issues to destabilize Egypt after the 2011 uprising was the public ... more One of the most controversial issues to destabilize Egypt after the 2011 uprising was the public debate on the status of Islam in the emerging post-Mubarak order. In this context, the paper examines the metamorphoses of the polemic over Egypt’s identity during the three constitution-making processes witnessed in the post-revolutionary period: the constitutions of 2012 and 2014, and the amendments of the 2014 constitution, ratified in 2019. Drawing on the typology of vertical/horizontal discourses, the paper contends that since the mid-1990s until Mubarak’s downfall, the intellectual discourse on state-religion relations was imposed from the top down, systematically structured, principled, and hierarchically organized around an ideal model of a civil state. This concept was constructed as an integrating code, through state agents, including political parties, sponsored intellectuals, and the religious establishment. In contrast, the process of redefining Egypt's orientation during the interim rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and Morsi's tenure was horizontal, encompassing conflicting worldviews, various languages, and diverse voices. The 'invisible' nature of the discourse around the 2019 amendments, which boldly constitutionalized “Egypt's civil-ness” and the Armed Forces’ duty to protect it, further illuminates the vertical character of the civil state discourse under Mubarak.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Books by Limor Lavie
How is the concept of the civil state understood in Arab countries? In The Battle over a Civil State, Limor Lavie examines how this important concept, which originated in Western philosophy, became incorporated into Arab discourse. The civil state as understood in Arab political discourse, Lavie argues, attempts to bridge Islamic history and culture with modernity. It is an attempt to forge a middle ground between a purely theocratic rule and a purely secular rule, and a solution for the tensions between a desire to catch up with global modernization and democratization processes and the desire to reject those same processes. In the political discourse of most of the Arab Spring countries, the concept of the civil state played a pivotal role. In the public debate over the character of Egypt, in particular, following the January 25, 2011 uprising, the demand to establish a civil state was shared by all the political currents. However, when these currents sought to set out basic guidelines for Egypt’s future, it soon became clear that they were far from reaching a consensus, and that the concept of the civil state was at the heart of the controversy between them. The struggle over Egypt’s civil character in the post-Mubarak era was the main reason for the turbulence the country experienced on June 30, 2013—leading to the ouster of President Muhammad Mursi.
Review of The Battle over a Civil State by Limor Lavie
Refereed Articles In Peer-Reviewed Journals by Limor Lavie
פרשנים ואנשי תקשורת הקדישו את עיקר תשומת הלב בעיסוקם בחוקה התוניסאית החדשה להתגלמותו של כישלון הניסיון הדמוקרטי התוניסאי בה, המסמל את כישלון “האביב הערבי” בכללותו. מאמר זה מבקש להפנות את הזרקור למגמה אחרת המשתקפת בחוקה זו והיא הירידה בדומיננטיות של האסלאם, תמונת מראה של קריסתן הפוליטית של התנועות האסלאמיסטיות לאחר עלייתן המטאורית בתוניסיה ובמדינות ערב אחרות. המאמר מנתח את השינויים בסעיפי הזהות בחוקה החדשה מתוך שתי נקודות מבט. האחת, בהשוואה לשתי החוקות שקדמו לה (1959, 2014); והשנייה, ביחס למעמד האסלאם בחוקותיהן של יתר מדינות ערב. טענת המאמר היא כי חוקתה החדשה של תוניסיה מבטאת מגמה של הרחקת הדת מהמדינה. הנסיגה במעמד האסלאם היא חסרת תקדים בהיסטוריה החוקתית של תוניסיה מאז קבלת העצמאות, ולא היה כדוגמתה במרבית מדינות ערב שרוב תושביהן מוסלמים. מעבר לממד הסמלי, לתמורה זו עשויה להיות השפעה מעשית על החוק התוניסאי, על מוסדות הדת והחינוך, ועל מדינות ערב אחרות אם תאמצנה שינויים דומים לחוקותיהן בעקבות תוניסיה.
claims of personal legitimacy as a substitute for institutional legitimacy, his missionary role as a substitute for ideology, and his reshaped eudaemonic legitimacy. All these legitimation strategies are formulated while rejecting the 2011 revolutionary legitimation and its promises for democracy. Such analysis, which goes beyond coercion or institutional explanations for authoritarian adaptation, scrutinizes the conceptual
reconstruction of authoritarianism as a tool to ensure the consent of the citizens and their legitimacy to the renewal of authoritarianism.
בשיח הרעיוני במצרים. הוא מצביע על ציוני דרך מרכזיים באבולוציה של המושג
ועוקב אחר הטרנספורמציות שעבר, הפנמתו בקרב מעצבי דעת קהל והשפעתו על
ההתנהגות הפוליטית משלהי שנות ה־ 70 של המאה העשרים ועד לדיונים על אפשרות
הגדרתה של מצרים בסעיף הראשון בחוקת 2014 כמדינה אזרחית, בדגש על התקופה
שלאחר מהפכת ה־ 25 בינואר2011
Refereed Chapters in Edited Volumes by Limor Lavie
How is the concept of the civil state understood in Arab countries? In The Battle over a Civil State, Limor Lavie examines how this important concept, which originated in Western philosophy, became incorporated into Arab discourse. The civil state as understood in Arab political discourse, Lavie argues, attempts to bridge Islamic history and culture with modernity. It is an attempt to forge a middle ground between a purely theocratic rule and a purely secular rule, and a solution for the tensions between a desire to catch up with global modernization and democratization processes and the desire to reject those same processes. In the political discourse of most of the Arab Spring countries, the concept of the civil state played a pivotal role. In the public debate over the character of Egypt, in particular, following the January 25, 2011 uprising, the demand to establish a civil state was shared by all the political currents. However, when these currents sought to set out basic guidelines for Egypt’s future, it soon became clear that they were far from reaching a consensus, and that the concept of the civil state was at the heart of the controversy between them. The struggle over Egypt’s civil character in the post-Mubarak era was the main reason for the turbulence the country experienced on June 30, 2013—leading to the ouster of President Muhammad Mursi.
פרשנים ואנשי תקשורת הקדישו את עיקר תשומת הלב בעיסוקם בחוקה התוניסאית החדשה להתגלמותו של כישלון הניסיון הדמוקרטי התוניסאי בה, המסמל את כישלון “האביב הערבי” בכללותו. מאמר זה מבקש להפנות את הזרקור למגמה אחרת המשתקפת בחוקה זו והיא הירידה בדומיננטיות של האסלאם, תמונת מראה של קריסתן הפוליטית של התנועות האסלאמיסטיות לאחר עלייתן המטאורית בתוניסיה ובמדינות ערב אחרות. המאמר מנתח את השינויים בסעיפי הזהות בחוקה החדשה מתוך שתי נקודות מבט. האחת, בהשוואה לשתי החוקות שקדמו לה (1959, 2014); והשנייה, ביחס למעמד האסלאם בחוקותיהן של יתר מדינות ערב. טענת המאמר היא כי חוקתה החדשה של תוניסיה מבטאת מגמה של הרחקת הדת מהמדינה. הנסיגה במעמד האסלאם היא חסרת תקדים בהיסטוריה החוקתית של תוניסיה מאז קבלת העצמאות, ולא היה כדוגמתה במרבית מדינות ערב שרוב תושביהן מוסלמים. מעבר לממד הסמלי, לתמורה זו עשויה להיות השפעה מעשית על החוק התוניסאי, על מוסדות הדת והחינוך, ועל מדינות ערב אחרות אם תאמצנה שינויים דומים לחוקותיהן בעקבות תוניסיה.
claims of personal legitimacy as a substitute for institutional legitimacy, his missionary role as a substitute for ideology, and his reshaped eudaemonic legitimacy. All these legitimation strategies are formulated while rejecting the 2011 revolutionary legitimation and its promises for democracy. Such analysis, which goes beyond coercion or institutional explanations for authoritarian adaptation, scrutinizes the conceptual
reconstruction of authoritarianism as a tool to ensure the consent of the citizens and their legitimacy to the renewal of authoritarianism.
בשיח הרעיוני במצרים. הוא מצביע על ציוני דרך מרכזיים באבולוציה של המושג
ועוקב אחר הטרנספורמציות שעבר, הפנמתו בקרב מעצבי דעת קהל והשפעתו על
ההתנהגות הפוליטית משלהי שנות ה־ 70 של המאה העשרים ועד לדיונים על אפשרות
הגדרתה של מצרים בסעיף הראשון בחוקת 2014 כמדינה אזרחית, בדגש על התקופה
שלאחר מהפכת ה־ 25 בינואר2011
הטענה המרכזית היא שלמעט הדחתו של מבארכ, המטרות המרכזיות המוצהרות של
ההתקוממות, "לחם )פרנסה(, חירות, צדק חברתי!" )עיש, חריה, עדאלה אג'תמאעיה(, טרם הושגו. יתר על כן, העובדה שפירמידת העוצמה במצרים, כמו מוסדות המדינה "העמוקים" )אל-דולה אל עמיקה( נותרו על כנם, מובילה למסקנה כי הגם שמצרים חוותה "רגע מהפכני" תוצאתו לא הייתה מהפכה במובן הקלסי של המושג.
The Saudi Perspective of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Tragedy
Nawaf Obaid
The Failure of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab World
Santa Barbara and Denver: Praeger, 2020, 368pp.
Mustafa Menshawy
Leaving the Muslim Brotherhood: Self, Society and the State
Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, 211pages.