Download or read book Understanding Revolutions written by Azmi Bishara and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-12-30 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on empirical and theoretical investigation, and original insight into how a local protest movement developed into a revolution that changed a regime, this book shows us how we can understand political revolutions. Azmi Bishara critically explores the gradual democratic reform and peaceful transfer of power in the context of Tunisia. He grapples with the specific make-up of Tunisia as a modern state and its republican political heritage and investigates how this determined the development and survival of the revolution and the democratic transition in its aftermath. For Bishara, the political culture and attitudes of the elites and their readiness to compromise, in addition to an army without political ambitions, were aspects that proved crucial for the relative success of the Tunisian experience. But he distinguishes between protest movements and mass movements that aim at regime change and discerns the social and political conditions required for the transition from the former to the latter. Bishara shows that the specific factors that correspond to mass movements and regime change are relative deprivation, awareness of injustice, dignity and indignation. He concludes, based on meticulous documentation of the events in Tunisia and theoretical investigation, that while revolutions are unpredictable with no single theory able to explain them, all revolutions across different historical and conceptual contexts be seen as popular uprisings that aim at regime change. The book is the first of a trilogy, the Understanding Revolutions series by Bishara, seeking to provide a rich, comprehensive and lucid assessment of the revolutions in three states: Tunisia, Syria, and Egypt.
Download or read book Trade Unions and Arab Revolutions written by Hèla Yousfi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-08-07 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the role of the UGTT (the Tunisian General Labour Union) during Tunisia’s 2011 revolution and the transition period that ensued – Tunisia being the Arab country where trade unionism was the strongest and most influential in shaping the outcomes of the uprising. The UGTT; From its role as the cornerstone of the nationalist movement in the colonial era, has always had a key place in Tunisian politics: not so much a labour union but as an organisation that has always linked social struggles to political and national demands. Examining the role played by the UGTT in Tunisia's revolution and more generally in the restructuring of the Tunisian political arena during the three years following the popular uprising. This book asks searching questions such as; how did UGTT interact with the popular uprising that led to the departure of Ben Ali? What was the role played by the UGTT in the "political transition" leading to the adoption on January 26, 2014 of the first democratic constitution in the country’s history? How successful was the UGTT in neutralizing the risk of self- implosion caused by the different political and social crises? And what are the challenges that the UGTT faces in the new political landscape? This volume will be of key reading interest to scholars and researchers of social movements, labour movements, organizational studies, political transitions and Arab revolutions and also likely to be of interest to practitioners especially among activists, unionists and advocates within civil society.
Download or read book The Tunisian Revolution and Democratic Transition written by Mohammad Dawood Sofi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-29 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the history of post-independence Tunisia, the book studies the evolution of al-Nahḍah as a political party in Tunisia and its role in a protracted struggle to shape the post-authoritarian order along democratic lines. It explores al-Nahḍah's relationship with the Tunisian state, society and beyond that resulted in shaping its fluctuating expressions of ideology and practices. State repression, political participation, or internal differentiation (among other factors) place an Islamic movement (in this case al-Nahḍah) in such a situation that demands a perpetual self re-evaluation as well as implementation of ideology, objectives, and political programmes. The study explains how the socio-political setting in Tunisia demanded various ideologically opposite currents (Islamic, liberal, or leftist) to endure cross-ideological cooperation either to contest authoritarian regimes or to engage in the political process. It more importantly analyzes the trajectory of a gradual democratization process in the country and provides evidence explaining the impact and importance of a vibrant civil society, building alliances, and sharing of power. The book provides comparative analytical attention to the primary sources on these issues to create a critical historiography. It thus adds to the body of literature on the state, society, and politics in the MENA region and particularly targets students, scholars, and social scientists interested in understanding the nature of power and politics in Tunisia and beyond.
Download or read book Making of the Tunisian Revolution written by Gana Nouri Gana and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2013-09-07 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From late 2010 to the present day, the Arab world has been shot through with insurrection and revolt. As a result, Tunisia is now seen as the unlikely birth place and exemplar of the process of democratisation long overdue in the Arab world. Mixing political, historical, economic, social and cultural analyses and approaches, these essays reflect on the local, regional and transnational dynamics together with the long and short term factors that, when combined, set in motion the Tunisian revolution and the Arab uprisings. Above all, the book maps the intertwined genealogies of cultural dissent that have contributed to the mobilisation of protesters and to the sustenance of protests between 17 December 2010 and 14 January 2011, and beyond.
Download or read book Youth and Revolution in Tunisia written by Alcinda Honwana and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-07-11 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The uprising in Tunisia has come to be seen as the first true revolution of the twenty-first century, one that kick-started the series of upheavals across the region now known as the Arab Spring. In this remarkable work, Alcinda Honwana goes beyond superficial accounts of what occurred to explore the defining role of the country's youth, and in particular the cyber activist. Drawing on fresh testimony from those who shaped events, the book describes in detail the experiences of young activists through the 29 days of the revolution and the challenges they encountered after the fall of the regime and the dismantling of the ruling party. Now, as old and newly established political forces are moving into the political void created by Ben Ali's departure, tensions between the older and younger generations are sharpening. An essential account of an event that has inspired the world, and its potential repercussions for the Middle East, Africa and beyond.
Download or read book Tunisian Revolutions written by Julia Clancy-Smith and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2014-11-21 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In December 2010 an out-of-work Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire and precipitated the Arab Spring. Popular interpretations of Bouazizi's self-immolation presented economic and political oppression by the Ben Ali regimes as the root causes of widespread social despair that triggered the Tunisian revolution. Yet as Julia Clancy-Smith points out, Tunisia's long history of organized political activism and protest movements suggests a far more complicated set of processes. Proposing a conceptual framework of "coastalization" vs. "interiorization," Clancy-Smith examines Tunisia's last two centuries and demonstrates how geographical and environmental and social factors also lie behind that country's modern political history. Within this framework Clancy-Smith explores how Tunisia's coast became a Mediterranean playground for transnational elites, a mecca of tourism, while its interior agrarian regions suffered increasing neglect and marginalization. This distinction has had a profound impact on the fate of Tunisia and has manifested itself in divisive debates over politics, the state, and religion as well as women’s socio-legal status that have led to a series of mass civic actions culminating in revolution. Clancy-Smith proposes a fresh historical lens through which to view the relationship between spacial displacements, regionalization, and transnationalism. Georgetown Shorts—longer than an article, shorter than a book—deliver timely works of peer-reviewed scholarship in a fast-paced, agile environment. They present new ideas and original texts that are easily and widely available to students, scholars, libraries, and general readers.
Download or read book Unfinished Revolutions written by Ibrahim Fraihat and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2016-04-19 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Post-revolution states often find that once dictators have been deposed, other problems arise, such as political polarization and the threat of civil war. A respected commentator on Middle Eastern politics, Ibrahim Fraihat examines three countries grappling with political transitions in the wake of the Arab Spring: Yemen, Libya, and Tunisia. Drawing on extensive research and interviews, Fraihat argues that to attain enduring peace and stability, post-revolution states must engage in inclusive national reconciliation processes with the support of women, civil society, and tribes.
Download or read book Understanding Revolutions written by ʻAzmī Bishārah and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 17 December, 2010, in the sleepy, provincial town of Sidi Bouzid, a Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire to protest the relentless harassment he faced at the hands of state officials. This politically driven suicide sparked protests that would engulf the Tunisian state, and spread throughout the region. The Tunisian Revolution is the only revolt of the Arab Spring that is widely considered to have 'succeeded'. In this book, Azmi Bishara's grapples with the specific political make-up of Tunisia, and how it determined the development and survival of the revolution. He begins by analysing the context of the revolt (including lagging economic development, high unemployment, authoritarian rule etc.) and compares this to the revolutionary setting within other Arab states. Bishara then carefully sets out the political contours specific to Tunisia and the formation of political parties within the country on the eve of the revolution. He unravels the gradual, daily dynamism of the events which left former President Zin El Abidine Ben Ali with no alternative but to flee the country. Bishara lucidly explains a dizzying series of developments, describing the path of the Tunisian revolution. This book critically explores the issue of gradual democratic reform and the peaceful transfer of power within the Tunisian context, with implications for the wider region. Two important questions are raised: how must social movements deal with states which refuse to participate in the dialectic process of reform, and what happens when a regime leverages fissures in collective identity to threaten the breakup of not just the state, but the entire social fabric of a country? Bishara concludes that Arab democratic reformers must focus on these questions, pointing out the importance of a unified nation and the establishment of democracy based on equal citizenship for all
Download or read book Revolution without Revolutionaries written by Asef Bayat and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-01 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of the Arab Spring and its aftermath alongside the revolutions of the 1970s. The revolutionary wave that swept the Middle East in 2011 was marked by spectacular mobilization, spreading within and between countries with extraordinary speed. Several years on, however, it has caused limited shifts in structures of power, leaving much of the old political and social order intact. In this book, noted author Asef Bayat—whose Life as Politics anticipated the Arab Spring—uncovers why this occurred, and what made these uprisings so distinct from those that came before. Revolution without Revolutionaries is both a history of the Arab Spring and a history of revolution writ broadly. Setting the 2011 uprisings side by side with the revolutions of the 1970s, particularly the Iranian Revolution, Bayat reveals a profound global shift in the nature of protest: as acceptance of neoliberal policy has spread, radical revolutionary impulses have diminished. Protestors call for reform rather than fundamental transformation. By tracing the contours and illuminating the meaning of the 2011 uprisings, Bayat gives us the book needed to explain and understand our post–Arab Spring world. Praise for Revolution without Revolutionaries “Bayat is in the vanguard of a subtle and original theorization of social movements and social change in the Middle East. His attention to the lives of the urban poor, his extensive field work in very different countries within the region, and his ability to see over the horizon of current paradigms make his work essential reading.” —Juan Cole, University of Michigan “An astute analyst of the Middle East, Asef Bayat is one of the very few researchers equipped to historicize the region’s contemporary uprisings. In Revolution without Revolutionaries, he deftly and sympathetically employs his own observations of Iran, immediately before and after the 1979 revolution, to reflect on the epochal shifts that have re-worked the political regimes, economic structures, and revolutionary imaginaries across the region today.” —Arang Keshavarzian, New York University “Bayat provocatively questions the Arab Spring’s apparent moderation, tracing its softness to decades of neoliberalism that have undermined the national state and discarded old-fashioned forms of revolutionary violence. This groundbreaking book is not an obituary for the Arab Spring but a hopeful glimpse at its future.” —Olivier Roy, author of The Failure of Political Islam
Download or read book The Making of the Tunisian Revolution written by Nouri Gana and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mixing political, historical, economic, social and cultural analyses and approaches, these essays reflect on the local, regional and transnational dynamics together with the long and short term factors that, when combined, set in motion the Tunisian revolution and the Arab uprisings.
Download or read book The Tunisian Revolution and Democratic Transition written by Mohammad Dawood Sofi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-29 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the history of post-independence Tunisia, the book studies the evolution of al-Nahḍah as a political party in Tunisia and its role in a protracted struggle to shape the post-authoritarian order along democratic lines. It explores al-Nahḍah's relationship with the Tunisian state, society and beyond that resulted in shaping its fluctuating expressions of ideology and practices. State repression, political participation, or internal differentiation (among other factors) place an Islamic movement (in this case al-Nahḍah) in such a situation that demands a perpetual self re-evaluation as well as implementation of ideology, objectives, and political programmes. The study explains how the socio-political setting in Tunisia demanded various ideologically opposite currents (Islamic, liberal, or leftist) to endure cross-ideological cooperation either to contest authoritarian regimes or to engage in the political process. It more importantly analyzes the trajectory of a gradual democratization process in the country and provides evidence explaining the impact and importance of a vibrant civil society, building alliances, and sharing of power. The book provides comparative analytical attention to the primary sources on these issues to create a critical historiography. It thus adds to the body of literature on the state, society, and politics in the MENA region and particularly targets students, scholars, and social scientists interested in understanding the nature of power and politics in Tunisia and beyond.
Download or read book Tunisia written by Safwan M. Masri and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2017-09-05 with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arab Spring began and ended with Tunisia. In a region beset by brutal repression, humanitarian disasters, and civil war, Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution alone gave way to a peaceful transition to a functioning democracy. Within four short years, Tunisians passed a progressive constitution, held fair parliamentary elections, and ushered in the country's first-ever democratically elected president. But did Tunisia simply avoid the misfortunes that befell its neighbors, or were there particular features that set the country apart and made it a special case? In Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly, Safwan M. Masri explores the factors that have shaped the country's exceptional experience. He traces Tunisia's history of reform in the realms of education, religion, and women's rights, arguing that the seeds for today's relatively liberal and democratic society were planted as far back as the middle of the nineteenth century. Masri argues that Tunisia stands out not as a model that can be replicated in other Arab countries, but rather as an anomaly, as its history of reformism set it on a separate trajectory from the rest of the region. The narrative explores notions of identity, the relationship between Islam and society, and the hegemonic role of religion in shaping educational, social, and political agendas across the Arab region. Based on interviews with dozens of experts, leaders, activists, and ordinary citizens, and a synthesis of a rich body of knowledge, Masri provides a sensitive, often personal, account that is critical for understanding not only Tunisia but also the broader Arab world.
Download or read book The Arab Revolution written by Jean-Pierre Filiu and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-11-23 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Mohammad Bouazizi sets himself on fire on December 17, 2010, he started a series of extraordinary events that spread across the Middle East with stunning rapidity. In less than a month, President Ben Ali fled Tunisia, ending a twenty-three year regime. Shortly thereafter, on 11 February 2011, President Mubarak of Egypt stepped down after nearly thirty years in power. In The Arab Revolution, Jean-Pierre Filiu offers a concise but sweeping account of the earth-shattering revolts that began in Tunis and continue today throughout the Middle East. Stressing the deep historical roots of the events, Filiu organizes the book around ten lessons that illuminate both the uprisings in particular and the region in general. He shows, for instance, that these movements didn't erupt out of thin air--Arabs have been fighting for their rights for more than a generation. The author sheds light on the role of youth--whose anger is power, he notes, and who embrace the message "tomorrow is yours, if you fight for it"--as well as the important role that social networks played in Tunisia and Egypt. Filiu also argues that in the aftermath, jihadists are in a difficult position, because the essentially peaceful grassroots protests in Tunisia and Egypt have undercut their message of violence and indeed have called into question their relevance. The book also reveals that, despite being somewhat overshadowed by the Arab uprising, Palestine remains the central concern throughout the Middle East. By shining a light on these lessons rather than providing a strictly chronological account, Filiu provides a far richer and deeper portrait of the revolutionary movements sweeping the region--as well as an insightful look at life in the Middle East today.
Download or read book The Arab Spring Between Transformation and Capture written by Oana Pârvan and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-09-29 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Tunisian revolution raises important questions regarding the articulation of resistance and political subjectivity in the context of global governmentality. By drawing from political theory, philosophy, ethnography and readings of local street art, this book restores the radical significance of the political event as an instance of possible collective action. Using the 2011 Tunisian revolution as a starting point for a broader discussion, this book analyses the processes of Orientalisation of non-Western examples of collective action and critiquing the narrative frame of the ‘Arab Spring’. By focusing on the aspect of autonomous mobilities and transformations, occurred within a beyond the Tunisian space, Oana Pârvan is able answer key questions including, how moments of political rupture (such as revolutions) are interpreted by the wider public and how mobility across the Mediterranean rearticulates the distribution and recomposition of political theory categories such as class. She narrates how the Tunisian revolution can be inscribed into a long history of dispossession (colonial, regional, neoliberal) and resistance; and the culture and practices of the Tunisian revolutionaries have spread in the country and abroad (seen as a way to think beyond the methodological framework of the nation-state). This work builds on research fieldwork and the analysis of Tunisian street art (mostly of the Ahl Al Kahf collective), drawing from migration-centred ethnographic work in order to suggest a reconstruction of the event. By applying theoretical reflections inspired by continental philosophy, media theory and autonomy of migration theory, this work develops an event-based theoretical reflection able to contribute towards rethinking contemporary Orientalism, self-representation and political subjectivity.
Download or read book The Arab Revolts written by David McMurray and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2013-02-22 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2011 eruptions of popular discontent across the Arab world, popularly dubbed the Arab Spring, were local manifestations of a regional mass movement for democracy, freedom, and human dignity. Authoritarian regimes were either overthrown or put on notice that the old ways of oppressing their subjects would no longer be tolerated. These essays from Middle East Report—the leading source of timely reporting and insightful analysis of the region—cover events in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen. Written for a broad audience of students, policymakers, media analysts, and general readers, the collection reveals the underlying causes of the revolts by identifying key trends during the last two decades leading up to the recent insurrections.
Download or read book Art and the Arab Spring written by Siobhan Shilton and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-07-08 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines art by over twenty-five artists to enable a greater understanding of the 'Arab Uprisings' and of the term 'revolution'.
Download or read book Tunisia written by Christopher Alexander and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-26 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first edition of Tunisia was released just nine months before the eruption of the Arab Spring. The most substantial period of political unrest felt by the Arab world in a half century originated in Tunisia, a fact that confounded expectations about Tunisian politics. This new edition builds upon the first edition’s overview of Tunisia’s political and economic development to examine how one of the region’s hardiest authoritarian orders was toppled by a loosely organised protest wave. Providing the most up-to-date introduction to Tunisia’s post-independence and post-Arab Spring politics, concisely written chapters cover topics such as: state formation domestic politics economic development foreign relations colonialism the Arab Spring; its factors and repercussions Key to this new edition is the examination of Tunisian history, politics and society alongside the subsequent upheaval following the outbreak of revolts in December 2010. It looks at how political and economic changes after 2001, including economic deterioration and rising inequality and corruption, had already begun to erode bases of Ben Ali’s government, and explores why Tunisia is the sole Arab Spring country to construct a democracy thus far, and the challenges that this new democracy still faces. An essential inclusion on courses on Middle Eastern politics, African politics, and political science in general, this accessible introduction to Tunisia will also be of interest to anyone wishing to learn more about this significant region.
