Arduous Paths: On the Theory and Practice of Democratic Transition

Azmi Bishara's Arduous Paths builds on his sizeable body of work on democracy through the lenses of civil society, religion and secularism, populism and sectarianism.

Arab transition scholarship is regarded in some quarters as confined to theory, reliant on imported data, and uncritical of concepts of democratization. However, while Bishara situates his research within a critical theoretical framework, he directly engages with the concerns of contemporary Arab societies--given the relevance of the transition to democracy for those living under authoritarianism--by testing theory and lessons learned from democratic transitions elsewhere against Arab cases, thus contributing to the scholarly debate. This English translation offers a detailed analysis of modernization and transition theory, interwoven with empirical evidence from the modern Middle East and the author's critical commentary and evaluation. Bishara evaluates the outcomes of transition experiences in Arab countries that have seen revolutions and popular uprisings, illustrating how--despite the centrality of the demand for democracy across the region during the 2010/2011 protests, and again in 2019--transition failed in some cases, and never took place in others. He concludes by offering the reader a distinctly Arab contribution to the field of democratic transition studies.