1. Introduction

Despite a history of presence in the Arab world, the ability of civil society actors to induce change and substantiate it prior to the uprisings has been limited. Among the serious obstacles that they faced were the unfavourable set of social, political and economic conditions, and chiefly state repression and fervent resistance to change. State tactics included controlled liberalization, co-optation of civil society groups and the establishment of parallel government-operated NGOs as well as strict monitoring and intrusive legal regulations. The introductory chapter expounds the significance of the book, its chapters and, more importantly, spells out the analytical lens of the book in critically reflecting on the ability of Arab civil society actors to enact change in their respective polities, and the challenges around it.