This book is concerned with political change in Morocco since 1990, with particular emphasis on civil society, human rights and reform.

Taking Morocco as its focus, this book looks at the political change in the country since 1990. It places particular emphasis on key topics, such as civil society, human rights and reform, as vital issues for understanding the developments in the contemporary Middle East.

Brand focuses on three countries--Jordan, Tunisia, and Morocco--with special attention to issues such as access to contraception and abortion, labor, pension, criminal legislation, protection against harassment and violence, and the degree of women's participation in government.

"Political scientist Azzedine Layachi examines relations between the state and society in Morocco and finds that perennial multiparty politics and an active associative life have not generated a pluralist and open political process nor strimulated the development of a civil society. He calls in to question the emperical significance and analytical usefulness of the whole notion of civil society in a country where the boundaries between state and society are blurred by strong institutional practices and by culturakl and religious beliefs."--Back cover.

This book investigates the power of civil society in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), in the context of the post-Arab Spring era, as well as more long-standing challenges and constraints in the region. In recent years, local civil society actors have faced significant challenges from social conservatism, conflict, violence, and the absence of democracy and exclusive political systems. Over the course of the book, the authors investigate how the sector has succeeded in achieving its own objectives despite these shifting conditions, the restrictive political environment and the complexity of the socio-cultural and economic context. Structured around the three themes of peace-building, development, and change, the book also addresses challenges faced by civil society organizations linked to ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversities as well as religious salient differences that are crucial markers of social and political identity. Case studies are drawn from the Palestinian Occupied Territories, Jordan, Iran, Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, and Morocco, and particular effort has been made to showcase original research from contributors who are from the region . This book will be of particular interest to researchers working on development, peace-building, conflict resolution, civil society, and politics within the MENA region.

This volume provides a comparative analysis of media systems in the Arab world, based on criteria informed by the historical, political, social, and economic factors influencing a country’s media. Reaching beyond classical western media system typologies, Arab Media Systems brings together contributions from experts in the field of media in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to provide valuable insights into the heterogeneity of this region’s media systems. It focuses on trends in government stances towards media, media ownership models, technological innovation, and the role of transnational mobility in shaping media structure and practices. Each chapter in the volume traces a specific country’s media – from Lebanon to Morocco – and assesses its media system in terms of historical roots, political and legal frameworks, media economy and ownership patterns, technology and infrastructure, and social factors (including diversity and equality in gender, age, ethnicities, religions, and languages). This book is a welcome contribution to the field of media studies, constituting the only edited collection in recent years to provide a comprehensive and systematic overview of Arab media systems. As such, it will be of great use to students and scholars in media, journalism and communication studies, as well as political scientists, sociologists, and anthropologists with an interest in the MENA region.