Religious Dimensions of Democratization Processes in Muslim-Majority Nations

Abstract

The 41st AMSS annual conference, held on 29 September 2012 at Yale Divinity
School, brought together scholars and activists to address “Religious
Dimensions of Democratization Processes in Muslim-Majority Nations.” The
event, consisting of four panels and Juan R. I. Cole’s (University of Michigan)
very anticipated keynote luncheon address, was co-sponsored by the Yale Divinity
School and the Council on Middle East Studies at The MacMillian Center
at Yale. Several luminaries in the field, including Ambassador Sallama
Shaker (conference program chair, Yale Divinity School), also attended. Gregory
E. Sterling (dean, Yale Divinity School) opened the conference, and Ali
A.Mazrui (former AMSS president, State University of New York) made welcoming
remarks.
The first panel, “The Arab Spring: A Revolution towards Democracy,”
was chaired by Narges Erami (Yale University). In his opening paper, “The
Arab Spring and Democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Which Is Cause and
Which Is Effect?,” Mazuri examined political processes, recent uprisings, and
longer-term democratic trends in South Africa, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, and
Yemen. He raised questions of chronology and causality, as well as how
processes of colonialism and decolonization shaped contemporary political
landscapes. After examining the concept of democratic contagion, he observed
how democratic processes that occurred in many African nations during the
twentieth century could serve as models for how to enshrine human rights and
an independent judiciary in new constitutions. His paper ended with a detailed
discussion of women’s contributions to shaping and buttressing a vibrant public
sphere, the positive effects of which can be seen particularly strongly in
Tunisia ...