ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes specific configurations of the civil societies of Arab countries which launched “the Arab Spring”. Political and social science academics have wondered whether civil societies existed in Arab countries, mainly because of the longevity of authoritarianism and the characteristics of the States’ founding pacts in this region. The “Arab Spring” was the sign of a crisis of these founding pacts in the region, mainly because of neoliberal policies. From 2004, Egypt witnessed a series of social and political protests that foreshadowed the 25 January 2011 revolution. The phenomenon was supported by a myriad of non-governmental organizations (NGO) and diverse groups but also by a process of de-monopolization of media sphere, including independent media, political talk shows on satellite television channels and social media. The different parts of the Tunisian civil society are considered–quite rightly–as the main actors of the political pacification in the country and the resulting successive compromises.
