Civil Liberties in Muslim Democracies: A Global Conversation

The third ingredient of successful democratic states, equal rights of citizens under the law, poses the greatest challenge for many Muslim democracies. The Islamic tradition provides resources for proponents of equal rights for women and religious minorities, for example. But it can also be invoked by those who would restrict civic equality for these and other groups, in areas including civil law, family law, and freedom of expression.

The political struggle over civil liberties in Muslim democracies does not simply pit reformers and moderates against conservatives and radicals. The debate is much broader, encompassing diverse political currents and legal scholars as well as state and non-state actors of both religious and secular backgrounds. And it is embedded within a wider global controversy about the relationship between the religious, the secular, and democracy—a debate with a long and continuing history in the Christian-majority secular democracies of the West.

Over the two-year period January 2013 to December 2014, the Civil Liberties in Muslim Democracies project will focus on three critical countries—Tunisia, Turkey, and Malaysia—that exemplify the complexity of the issues and the importance of wider regional and global contexts. All three are Muslim-majority countries with a significant experience of both secularization and democratization. All three endorse Islam as the official religion, uphold the principle of political equality for women and religious minorities, and have sought to realize civil liberties in practice, with mixed success.

Over that two-year period, the Civil Liberties in Muslim Democracies project plans to convene a symposium at Georgetown and one or more workshops abroad; to publish reports; and to build out online resources on Islamopedia and the Berkley Center website for scholars, policymakers, and the media interested in democratization in the Muslim World.

The project will build on work conducted by Dr. Cesari under the auspices of the Minerva research project on Islam and State Interactions. Thus far the Minerva project has developed tools to measure the influence of Islam in the democratization process by looking at the status of Islam in the legal system, in education, and in relation to the state in several key Muslim-majority countries. The Civil Liberties in Muslim Democracies project will broaden this work by exploring the conditions at play in the limitation or extension of civil liberties in three key countries.

A first step will be a seminar on January 28, 2012, that will consist of two parts: a closed discussion of experts to discuss the project concept and possible partnerships and sources of funding; and a public panel discussion to introduce the themes of the project to a wider public.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Magharebia.