The Debate on University, Citizenship and Democracy

Volume 4|Issue 15| Winter 2016 |Articles

Abstract

In this essay, Bishara explores the relationship between university education and democratic culture. Moving beyond the relationship between the two – that is the ratio of the number of educated and their education degrees and the attendant potential for democracy and its stability – Bishara focuses instead on the political culture of those who are educated, and their values. His conclusions are based on the 2015 Arab Opinion Index, which showed that stances on democracy and citizenship do not change based on one’s education degree. He also presents an interpretive analysis of these results in a comparative study between the different impacts of university institutions and free universal education in Europe on the one hand, and the Arab status quo and its relationship with democracy and citizenship on the other – this in view of the fact that universities are meant to bring together large masses of youth coming from different areas and social backgrounds, and to be a major melting pot of the nation, and a natural environment for citizenship.

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General Director of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (DI). Bishara is a leading Arab researcher and intellectual with numerous books and academic publications on political thought, social theory and philosophy. He was named by Le Nouveau Magazine Littéraire as one of the world's most influential thinkers. His publications in Arabic, some of which have become key references within their respective field, include Civil Society: A Critical Study (1996); From the Jewishness of the State to Sharon (2004); On The Arab Question: An Introduction to an Arab Democratic Manifesto (2007); To Be an Arab in Our Times (2009); On Revolution and Susceptibility to Revolution (2012); Religion and Secularism in Historical Context (in 3 vols., 2013, 2015); The Army and Political Power in the Arab Context: Theoretical Problems (2017); The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Daesh): A General Framework and Critical Contribution to Understanding the Phenomenon (2018); What is Populism? (2019); Democratic Transition and its Problems: Theoretical Lessons from Arab Experiences (2020); and The Question of the State: Philosophy, Theory, and Context (2023) with a second volume titled The Arab State: Beginnings and Evolution (2024).

His latest publication in Arabic titled Palestine: Matters of Truth and Justice (2024), is translated from English, originally published in 2022 by Hurst Publishers in London. Bishara's English publications also include On Salafism: Concepts and Contexts (Stanford University Press, 2022); Sectarianism without Sects (Oxford University Press, 2021); and his trilogy on the Arab revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Syria, published by I.B. Tauris, Understanding Revolutions: Opening Acts in Tunisia (2021); Egypt: Revolution, Failed Transition and Counter-Revolution (2022); and Syria 2011-2013: Revolution and Tyranny before the Mayhem (2023), in which he provides a rich theoretical analysis in addition to a comprehensive and lucid assessment of the revolutions in three Arab countries.


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