Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

The Arab poorsuffer from socialmarginalisation,economic privationand socialinequality–all ofwhich have powerfulrepercussionson knowledgeacquisition andproductionArab cultureexists within theframework of abody of texts,established truths,and deep-seatedlore that impactconvictions andcodes of behaviourDespite the discrepancy in the sizeof this bracket from one Arab societyto another, this group constitutes animportant segment of the population inthe Arab world. Reference can be madeto Yemen and Mauritania, among themost difficult Arab cases, for which theHuman Poverty Index, published by theUnited Nations, 19 shows a poverty rate ofmore than 35 per cent. Eight other Arabcountries that together account for about60 per cent of all Arabs record averages ofgreater than 20 per cent on the UNDP’sHuman Poverty Scale. 20It is obvious that the Arab poor,some of whom are growing poorer,suffer from social marginalisation andeconomic privation, and that they do notenjoy equality with the remainder of theirfellow citizens. If the poor representthe most important and most dangerousgroup among the marginalised, thenclass differences represent another largebarrier to achieving social equity andfreedom. And all of the above havepowerful repercussions in the domain ofknowledge acquisition and production.TRENDS TOWARDSRELIGIOUS RADICALISMAND INTOLERANCEIt is difficult to approach the topic ofsocial freedoms and their developmentwithout also considering the generalstructure of Arab culture, which restson a complex of customs, traditions,practices, premises, social convictions, andreligious beliefs. Space does not permitus to discuss all the areas of dysfunctionwithin Arab culture. The analysis here isof freedoms, especially social freedomsand their relationship to the evolutionof the environments needed to enablean Arab knowledge society. Furthermore,this analysis does not proceed fromvalue judgments that either exaggerate orunderestimate the extent of the matter.The first thing to be noted is that Arabculture exists within the framework ofa body of texts, established truths, anddeep-seated lore that impact convictionsand codes of behaviour. The limits ofpractices that have been handed downgeneration after generation are morepowerful and more numerous than thoseof the law. This cultural heritage constitutesthe general framework of society anddetermines its trajectories in a way thatmakes emancipation from its influencedifficult (al-Tahir Labib, backgroundpaper for the Report, in Arabic). Theseconstants reflect, in many instances, anintellectual inertia which dominates theculture, resulting in a society that lives andthinks with a one-dimensional vision thatrejects change, creativity, and innovation,believing in and preferring to submit torestrictions. As a result, society often takesa preconceived stance vis-à-vis ‘the other,’one of rejection and condemnation thatforecloses dialogue. All of this leads tothe drawing up of civilisational battlelines, to reciprocal bouts of cultural mudslinging,and to an enmity that may reachthe point of symbolic and even armedviolence. (see Chapter 1)One cannot go into the restrictionsimposed on social freedoms withoutreferring to the fears that accompanywriting on certain topics that have arole in shaping our social situation, suchas religion, politics, and sex. These areproblematic issues that stir up a host oftaboos, fears, and sensitivities (al-TahirLabib, background paper for the Report,in Arabic, and Nabil ‘Ali, 2003, in Arabic),and the operative spheres of these taboosand their interpretations have widenedin recent decades. This escalation hascoincided with the high tide of religiousdogma that has been disposed in mostcases to outward forms and ritual at theexpense of the true essence of religions asrepresented by their ethical values, tolerantteachings, and moderate practices. Andthese narrow-minded interpretations havebecome wide-spread among religions. Anumber of factors may have assisted thespread of this radical current amongbroad social groupings in the Arab world,especially the easily influenced young,76 ARAB KNOWLEDGE REPORT 2009