This thesis is an investigation of the activisms of Islamic womens and secular feminist private voluntary organizations in Cairo. For this case study fieldwork was conducted in the summer of 2001. The thesis questions if these organizations serve to expand civil society in Egypt and if any marked difference can be ascertained in the political effect of these two organizational types. It attempts to bring in a better understanding of the activities of these womens associations, which have been overlooked as either irrelevant or uncivil enough to be included in mainstream scholarship. The thesis proves that both Islamic womens and secular feminist PVOs foster not only practices, but values that are inherently democratic. Participating in these civil society organizations these women cultivate experiences that advance pluralistic and cooperative ways of decision-making. They foster civility, which encompasses tolerance, mutual respect, trust, reciprocity, and cooperation. Significant, is moreover, the empowering results of such activisms. It also demonstrates that these womens organizations exhibit a wide range of activities that serve to expand civil society in Egypt, albeit through a slow process. They are, thus, politically significant to the democratization process. Moreover, there is no difference between the two organizational types in terms of their political importance to the expansion of civil society.