Table of Contents

Contesting democracy - discourses and counter-discourses; defoundationalizing democracy and the Arab-Islamic setting; democracy as an occidentalist discourse; democracy as an Orientalist discourse; contemporary Arab conceptions of democracy; Arab women and democracy - breaking out; the West and the sponsoring of Arab authoritarianisms - Islamist narratives; challenges to democracy in the Arab Middle East.

Reviews

'Sadiki provides the reader with an invaluable work of reference for those seeking to understandArab thought concerning democracy and reservations about accepting the western brand.'-John A. S. Abecasis-Phillips, International Affairs'[Sadiki] avoids the simplistic black and white thinking that characterizes most public discourse on this issue. He interrogates in a wide-ranging and subtle way a whole range of Muslim thinkers,from medieval philosophers to nineteenth century modernists to contemporary feminists and Islamists. This book is a key intervention in an increasingly central public debate about Islam and democracy, and should be read by anyone concerned with the issue.'-Juan Cole, University of Michigan