Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
This paper tries to show to what extent it is possible to make the democratic germs inherent to the arab-muslim tradition fruitful. To this effect, a double scheme is employed. The author argues first in favour of a re-appropriation of a particular Western legacy now largely occulted, that is, the Roman Republic. Then, she defends a specific vision of postmodern democracy as it appears, more or less explicitly, in some of John Rawls’ and Jurgen habermas’ writings. It appears, then, that inasmuch as some key concepts are amended and thick-skinned prejudices dismissed, it will be possible to highlight the conditions and compromises necessary for muslims to contribute to the building of a global concept of democracy.