Response #7

It’s hard to consider the similarities between the United States, a clearly democratic nation, and the MENA region, a region labeled as unstable, violent, and oppressive. Yet, if you look at the process of democratization in terms of social movements and their influence on this process, both regions are rather similar. Without the women’s suffrage movement in the 1920’s, women today would not have the right to vote, and maybe even the right to hold office. In a broad sense, the women’s suffrage movement paved the way towards complete equality between women and men. 

Additionally, the civil rights movement during the 1950’s and 1960’s left an unforgettable mark on the United States. A race that was once dehumanized by the institution of slavery had a voice, and used it to fight for their rights to vote and to live a desegregated life. 

A social movement we see today in the United States is the fight for homosexual couples to have the right to marry. This is a fairly new social movement in my eyes, but has really grown in size and support over the last ten years. Citizens are pressing their congressmen and women to sign legislation in their states to legalize gay marriage, and states like Massachusetts and New York have already done so. This new issue on gay rights just proves that democracy in the U.S can still be improved, and social movements are playing an influential role in doing so. 

Although it may not seem apparent, the MENA region hosts similar social movements that are striving towards the same cause. As Professor Hardig mentioned in class a few times, the gay rights social movement in Lebanon is currently working towards the right for homosexual couples to legally marry. In addition, the women’s rights movement is slowly making headway in the MENA region, especially in Jordan and Pakistan. In Jordan, women have already been given the right to vote and hold office thanks to the National Committee for Women, created in 1996. In Pakistan, serious protection laws and women’s rights reforms are being put into place after the shooting of the young Pakistani girl by the Taliban. 

In regards to voters rights and representation, the MENA region has had considerable trouble with these issues in the past and present. Many of the protests during the Arab Spring were in response to faulty representation, voters rights, corruption, and an overall discontent with authoritarian regimes. Many social movements have tried to remove authoritarian rulings, putting into place more democratic ways of governing the countries in the region. Although the MENA region still has a long way to go before reaching the type of democracy seen in the United States, similar social movements are present in both regions that strive toward the same goal: democracy.