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Islam in Contemporary Egypt: Civil Society vs. the State. By Denis J. Sullivan and Sana Abed-Kotob. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1999. 159p. $49.95.
Sami Zubaida, Birkbeck College, London
"Civil society" has become a key concept and a central quest in the search for paths to democracy and liberty in many parts of the world. This search has been particularly notable in Egypt, where an increasingly totalitarian state has sought in recent decades to project an image of democracy but at the same time attack and undermine all potential bases of social autonomy and political action. These are the central issues discussed in this book. The picture is complicated by the prominent part played by religious and religio-communal politics on the Egyptian stage. Are Islamic associations and forms of political action forces of civil society engaged in the quest for social autonomies and liberation from authoritarian strictures, or do they themselves add another tier of repression in the name of religious conformity and moral conduct?
The authors argue, quite correctly, that there are many different kinds of Islamic movements and tendencies in Egypt, with various orientations and programs. Many of them, especially the nonviolent political strands of the Muslim Brotherhood, are seen as forces of civil society, working for pluralism and democracy. The various religious charities and social services associations, some of them linked to the Brotherhood, others ostensibly nonpolitical, clearly form a vital component...