Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

Freedom is the basisof development.It contributes toa broadeningof choicesand individualpossibilitiesin the variousspheres of lifeArab environments,as a whole, still lackthe most importantmechanisms forempowerment basedon knowledgeAchievements inpublic freedom,social and economicfreedoms, andthe freedom tocreate are modestin Arab countries,despite a degreeof progress andsome signs that givegrounds for hopeon the enabling environments from a particularangle, that of freedoms, since they are thecornerstone of such environments. It willalso make reference to the role of supportinginstitutions, given the important role theirorganisational structure plays in paving the wayto a knowledge society.This chapter takes as its starting point thefundamental premise that freedoms in theirvarious forms are the most salient feature ofthose environments that stimulate knowledge.This premise has become a touchstone of theera and a guide to all experiments in theadvancement of knowledge. Every enablingenvironment that fosters freedoms provides anappropriate framework for the establishmentof a knowledge society. Knowledge and freedomare two sides of the same coin. Similarly,freedom, according to Amartya Sen, is the basisof development (Sen, 1999). It contributesto a broadening of choices and individualpossibilities in the various spheres of life. As aconsequence, freedoms, here, are both an end anda means to development, a cause and a result.A cluster of political, economic, and socialfreedoms constitutes the best environment forthe production and optimal use of knowledge.It is the most important motivational tool fordevelopment in the broad, humanistic sense ofthe word—development, that is, that transcendsmere economic growth and rises in averageindividual income to include the enrichment ofindividuals’ lives, improvement in their livingconditions, and the advancement of the active,contributing citizen. In this sense, freedomsconstitute a fundamental axis of knowledgeenvironments.However, our concern with loosening thereins on freedoms does not mean overlookingthe frameworks of responsibility which allowfor the protection and investment of the fruitsof freedom. These frameworks are comprisedof the institutions that support and preserveeverything that helps develop knowledge andbrings a knowledge society into being. Whilethe environments which enable knowledge areestablished thanks to a prevailing climateof freedom, they can only ensure continuityand efficacy through sponsoring institutionsthat organise systems for the production andpropagation of knowledge. Furthermore, theyonly bring about legitimacy and rationalitythrough the agency of the arsenal of lawsand legislation that guarantee that they willcontinue to thrive and develop.THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGEENVIRONMENTS IN THEARAB WORLD: CONSTRAINTSAND PRESSURESWe take this dependence of enablingenvironments on participation andfreedom as our starting point. We may,however, ask ourselves: What is meantby knowledge environments? And doArab environments stimulate or impedethe production, use, and acquisition ofknowledge? If we take as our premisethat development is freedom and thatknowledge is a human right as well as abasic component in the implementationand realisation of development, mostindicators show that Arab environments,as a whole, still lack the most importantmechanisms for empowerment based onknowledge. Political, social, and economicrestrictions are the rule, freedoms theexception. Achievements in publicfreedom, social and economic freedoms,and the freedom to create are modestin Arab countries, despite a degree ofprogress and some signs that give groundsfor hope. That freedoms in the Arabworld are abused is no value judgment orprejudice but rather a fact corroboratedby reports, statistics, and qualitative andquantitative indicators. It is true that thereis considerable disparity in some of thesedata from one Arab country to another.This is because the state of freedomsexperiences ups and downs, periods ofprogress, retreat, and instability accordingto external pressures and states’ priorities,over and above the givens of any internalstruggles. However, the general trend offreedoms in the Arab world is from badto worse, not from good to better, despitesome successful reform initiatives anddespite the indicators of rapid economicgrowth in some Arab countries in recentyears, previous to the aggravation of the60 ARAB KNOWLEDGE REPORT 2009