Arab Voices: The human rights debate in the Middle East(Routledge Library Editions: Society of the Middle East)

This book, first published in 1991, moves beyond sensational headlines to explore how Middle Eastern men and women speak and feel about the societies in which they live. Kevin Dwyer makes use of extensive research and interview material from Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco and combines first-hand testimony with vivid and illuminating analysis. The voices are those of lawyers, political militants, religious thinkers, journalists and human rights activists who focus their discussion on the question of human rights and critical issues in social and cultural life.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: ‘Azmatology’ 1.1. Crisis 1.2. ‘You don’t expect the barber to slit your throat’ (Morocco) 1.3. ‘Freeing the mind’ (Tunisia) 1.4. ‘The mafias, the new rich, the millionaires, and all the poverty’ (Egypt) 1.5. ‘What to make from this crisis?’ Part 1. Egypt: Identity, Religion and Visions of Society 2. Universal Visions, Local Visions 2.1. Visions in Play 2.2. ‘Islamic human rights … don’t mean that everything is permissible’ (Morocco) 2.3. ‘How can we develop a vision … without our own history?’ (Tunisia) 3. Egypt Since the July Revolution 3.1. Two Deaths 3.2. Nasser’s Egypt 3.3. Egypt Under Sadat 3.4. Egypt and Mubarak 4. Egyptian Voices 4.1. ‘Human rights is just a by-product’ 4.2. ‘Enemies become friends, friends enemies’ and ‘Everybody began to talk Islam’ 4.3. ‘The new traditionalists … seeking Islamic solutions to modern problems’ Part 2. Morocco: the Individual, Human Freedom and Democracy 5. Cultural Obstacles? 5.1. The Individual 5.2. ‘On the Day of Judgement … God speaks with each individual’ (Egypt, Tunisia) 6. Independent Morocco 6.1. Moroccan Complexities 6.2. Morocco Under Hassan II 7. Moroccan Voices 7.1. ‘Five years here, it’s like a century’ 7.2. ‘If you are a nail, submit; if you are a hammer, hit’ 7.3. ‘Liberty is a veil among veils’ Part 3. Tunisia: Organizing for Human Rights and the Rights of Women 8. Constructing Civil Society 8.1. A Human Rights Charter 8.2. A Women’s Magazine in Tunisia 8.3. The Question of Civil Society 9. Independent Tunisia 9.1. A Constitutional Coup d’Etat 9.2. Bourguiba’s Tunisia 9.3. Changing Horses 10. Organizing for Human Rights 10.1. ‘A harmful trade-off’ (Egypt) 10.2. ‘Everything here is structured by the political parties’ (Morocco) 10.3. Tunisian Voices (1): ‘After all, we’re not asking to govern the country’ 11. Organizing Women 11.1. ‘The cultural revolution is happening right now, right before our eyes’ (Morocco) 11.2. ‘It is not enough to be aware of our rights, we have to have power’ (Egypt) 11.3. Tunisian Voices (2): ‘We wanted a different kind of order … but we just didn’t have the consciousness it required’ Part 4. Conclusion: ‘Dispute and Struggle’ 12. ‘Dispute and Struggle’ 12.1. Misunderstandings 12.2. Stakes 12.3. Challenges