Home

Building Civil Societies

in
Publication Author: 
Homa Hoodfar and Nelofar Pazira
Date: 
2000
AttachmentSize
Building Civil Societies15.19 MB
number of pages: 
118
Languages available: 
English

The building of a civil society rests upon public participation, on the way society is currently being run, on the values being promoted, and on how resources are currently being distributed. 

However, governments, politicians, elites, often give the false impression that only they are qualified for political and social participation and that ordinary people have little to contribute besides electing them to the office. Such attitudes have silenced many voices form expressing their concerns. 

This book, by providing actual cases and examples of action that ordinary people of diverse social and political contexts have taken in order to promote justice, democracy, and human rights in their communities, does much to demystify the meaning of social and political participation. 

This book shows that in our interconnected world, we do not have to stand in despair as international events unfold. We can, through local actions, take part in building a better world of communities. 

 

Written by:

 

Homa Hoodfar is a professor of anthropology at Concordia University, Montreal. Her publications include: Health as a Context for Social and Gender Activism: Female Volunteer Health Workers in Iran (2010); Women, Religion and the 'Afghan Education Movement' in Iran (2008); Between Marriage and the Market: Intimate Politics and Survival in Cairo (2005); and The Muslim Veil in North America: Issues and Debates (2003).

Nelofer Pazira is an award-winning Afghan-Canadian director, actress, journalist and author. She holds a degree in Journalism and English Literature from Carleton University (Ottawa), and a master's degree in Anthropology/Sociology and Religion from Concordia University(Montreal). She has also received an honorary doctorate of law from Carleton. Recently, she received an honorary doctorate of letters from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. She established her own film company, Kandahar Films, in 2001.