ABSTRACT
Introduction In the past, civil society has been seen as key to democratic transition in many political contexts. While the optimism that surrounded the expansion in the scale of civil society activity in the Middle East which characterized the 1990s has given way to more cautious assessments of its possible impact on political change in the region, nonetheless much work remains to be done in scrutinizing the impact of civil society on political dynamics in specific contexts in the region. Undoubtedly, more critical tones have entered the discourse on civil society in the Middle East, but it is still the case that the assumption of a positive correlation between a healthy civil society sector and political reform in the direction of greater levels of pluralism and democracy remains central to much of the commentary on the region and continues to inform policy-making. This chapter will examine civil society in contemporary Yemen where, perhaps paradoxically, a comparatively open political system and a seemingly vibrant civil society sector co-exist with patterns of authoritarian politics that are familiar from much of the rest of the Middle East. The chapter will consider the impact that civil society in Yemen has, or can have, on Yemeni political dynamics and will argue, in sympathy with recent work on other states in the region, that, far from challenging an entrenched, authoritarian regime, civil society in Yemen as presently configured, almost certainly has the effect of bolstering the grip on power of that regime. The chapter is divided into three main parts. The first examines the concept of civil society and the question of its relationship to democratic political change. The next examines the literature on civil society in the Middle East from two perspectives – first, the debate on whether the concept of civil society has any meaningful application to Middle Eastern contexts; second, what form and character civil society assumes in the contemporary Middle East. The next section critically examines civil society and the state in Yemen and is based, in part, on fieldwork conducted in Sana’a in March 2008. In the Yemeni context, the role that tribes and tribal allegiances play in all aspects of socio-political and economic life is very important and deservedly attracted considerable academic interest. Although this crucial aspect of Yemeni society should not be underestimated, this study examines emerging dynamics of
activism that are being created outside the tribal framework. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of its findings for the broader literature on civil society and the state in the Middle East.
