The concept of the civil state (a critical approach)

Abstract

Demanding a “civil state” has been a common slogan among many influential political groups, intellectuals, and academics. Particularly among the Islamist ones during the heated debates that accompanied the street uprisings in what was called the “Arab Spring.” The street protests in the “Arab Spring” countries were the moment that transformed the concept of the “civil state” from a theoretical idea into something like a mobilizing political discourse. The concept has attracted a large spectrum of opponents of tyranny around it.