The State, university, and the construction of civil society in the Middle East

Education in the Middle East is a site of ongoing conflicts between the state and non-state forces. The state, in most countries of the region, has owned and run the educational system, and used it primarily as a means of state-building and nation-building. Non-state actors have generally been excluded from the creation of higher educational institutions; and when such initiatives are allowed, the institutions are politically and academically controlled by the state. The universities have, however, led a very complex life. They have been hotbeds of struggle for democracy, independence and socialism. Since these conflicts are continuing, the universities, the students and faculty, will be actively involved in changing the status quo. A condition for the rise of civil society in the region is the civilising of the state, and the universities will pose a serious challenge to the status quo. The future trend, as far as the students are concerned, is to a large extent a struggle for democratisation of social and political life in each country, and the autonomy of the university from the power of the state and the market.