A soft bigotry of lowered expectations

I have this commentary in today's Guardian (page 30) — it discusses Libya and Morocco for the most part, but the principle applies elsewhere: that both outsiders and many Arabs have set too low an expectation of the desire for democracy in the region. Here I'm not excusing real anti-democratic movements and sentiments that exist in the region (as they do even in democracies) or accuse an uncaring West, the point is more to respond to something that has been troubling me ever since the beginning of the Tunisian uprising. This is the idea that a people can be "mature" for democracy — which suggests that they can also be immature and unready for it. This idea or some variant of it, such as fear of Islamists, has been too dominant for the last few decades. Anyway, here it goes (and needless to say — as some commenters on the Guardian website suggested — I am not making a comparison by Libya and Morocco, they are incomparable. I am showing the two extremes of the contemporary Arab world, and that desire for change in both of them is legitimate.)

There is a phrase coined in 2004 by Michael Gerson, a speechwriter for George W Bush best-known for having come up with "axis of evil", that I've always liked. In a speech about education, he bemoaned "the soft bigotry of lowered expectations" that he believed existed against disadvantaged children.

For several decades, there has been a soft bigotry of lowered expectations in the west and among Arab elites about the Arab world. The prevalent thinking about this region of over 300 million souls is that it offered no fertile ground for democracy, either because democracy risked bringing political forces hostile to western interests or because democracy is not a value that has much currency in the region. Many regimes understood this, and played a double game of decrying their societies' "immaturity" while encouraging anti-democratic tendencies such as populism and, at times, a reactionary social conservatism. After the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, no one will buy this any more – and nor should they about two more north African countries: Libya and Morocco.

Here's the rest.

Comments

[gillian]

I really appreciated this article and was waiting for someone to write something of this nature.It is in my opinion the key to the whole problem of thre 20th century which is thankfuly starting to unravel now: the postcolonial settlement. It's not something people in the west, in Britain anyway, are comfortable with considering. But the time is come.

[anonymous2]

good topic to be covering. i think america's patronizing, soft core racism on who really knows how to do democracy comes from a lack of popular will and pressure for the nation to face up to just how deeply her own political democracy has been subverted. one thing america can offer is some critical lessons in how elites can co-opt political democracy at the federal level to suffocate economic democracy at the local level.

[anon]

I don't see mature vs. immature as patronizing when discussing populations with deep sectarian/ethnic/religious rifts. A mature society (ready for democracy) is one where the people respect each other enough to make concessions to the other side in the name of democracy and equality. An immature society is one where a large sector of the society will turn to violence if members of a different sect/religion/ethnic group become politically powerful. Democracy isn't just about voting for government officials, it is about NOT burning down your neighbor's house if a member of the "other" sect wins the election. The people should feel SAFE enough to vote for whomever they choose and not fear retribution. That isn't something that just comes free with the word "democracy". That attitude of tolerance and compromise must exist in a society for democracy to work. That is a "mature" society.

I might disagree with *which* countries are deemed "immature" but I don't object to the language itself.

[SP]

Anon, to use the term "mature" or "immature" is not just loaded but pointless - the idea of a "civic culture" that taught people to trust rules and not attack those they had defeated and so on was popular in 1950s social science till, guess what, the theorists who went around interviewing people in different parts of Europe to see who had democracy in their bones and who did not realized that civic culture was a product of...experience with democracy. You might look for the cultural and social infrastructures of democracy in different places - Fareed Zakaria points to constitutional liberalism and an independent judiciary as the core of liberal democracy and says no country that does not have an entrenched respect for individual rights and freedoms can sustain democracy - but it's pretty difficult to GET this infrastructure and get people used to compromise without democracy, and gradual confidence-building measures and incentives to compromise.

[anonymous2]

maybe "mature" is code for societies that are able to sincerely deny the role their privileges have played in making life a living hell for others.

[DMS]

i am not sure that i can agree with you regarding the legitimatacy of calls for change in Morocco in particular.

it seems to me that there is more than an element of opportunitism taking place at the moment at all levels in morocco. from looters taking the opportunity to do what they do best to these so called political partys calling for change.

the changes since M6 came to power in Morocco are absolutely amazing at all levels and the continued rate of change is unparrelled not just across the ME but also ww.
the amount of new money coming into the country is a sure sign of the progress made and is only made possible due to the stability that the country has enjoyed.

a few thousand dilusioned and in most part ignorant people taking to the street to protest is hardly reflective of the will of the masses in a country of 35 million or more, less than two months ago millions took to the street in support of the king and country and is more reflective of the will of the people.

i cannot claim to talk for everyone but the vast majority of people i have discussed the protests with are digusted with the entire projection of unrest being portrayed. this is not to say that everything is perfect in Morocco but it is clearly on the right road and will continue to be so with more of the same stability that it has enjoyed to date.

unstability and calls for change will not suit anyone, as is being proven on the streets of egypt and tunisia this past friday, they have got what they wanted but is it what they needed? is egypt going to grow this year economically? is tunisia? or are they going to be struggling to even retain what growth they had enjoyed to date? this is not an argument for against change in these countrys but highlights why we shouldnt be so quick to denounce what we have enjoyed.

there are still poor in morocco that is clear, but the road morocco is on is also clear with change taking place. the changes are visible in some instances and others not so visible but that does not mean that they are not occuring.

count how many cars are on the roads of morocco now.
look at how many km of autoroute have been built in the last few years and is continuing to be built.
see how many major construction projects there are around you wherever you live in morocco.

i am originally from the uk and have travelled the world extensively and outside of china i have not seen a rate of change that even compares to Morocco so what is there is to change?
is there really a magic switch that can be flicked to suite everyones needs or does it need to be progressive??

the answer to me at least is clear, please, please bring on more of the same for morocco, its what is best for everyone.

this doesnt mean that voices cannot be heared, but it doesnt need to be in the form of calls for change, does anyone really believe that the islamists and the socialists would agree on anything should they be given any responsibilitys?

not all change is good this should be recognised and with polls due next year there will be ample opportunity for people to vote with there minds rather than with small protests on the street.