Bekdash reviews Young Generation Awakening: Economics, Society, and Policy on the Eve of the Arab Spring edited by Edward A. Sayre and Tarik M. Yousef.
Explores the aesthetic dimensions of the Arab Spring and the protest movements that followed
From Egypt to India, and from Botswana to London, worker, youth and middle class rebellions have taken on ...the political and bureaucratic status quo and the privilege of small, wealthy and often corrupt elites at a time when the majority can no longer earn a decent wage.
A remarkable feature of the protests from the Arab Spring onwards has been the salience of images, songs, videos, humour, satire and dramatic performances. This book explores the central role the aesthetic played in energising the mass mobilisations of young people, the disaffected, the middle classes, the apolitical silent majority, as well as enabling solidarities and alliances among democrats, workers, trade unions, civil rights activists and opposition parties.
Comparing the North African and Middle Eastern uprisings with protest movements such as Occupy, the authors bring to bear an anthropological and sociological approach from a variety of perspectives, illuminating the debate by drawing on a wide array of disciplinary expertise.
Key FeaturesIncludes over 150 colour illustrations showing how visual media is used in protest movements across the globeShares perspectives from political, media, visual, economic and linguistic anthropology, and the anthropology of work, art, social organisation and social movementLooks at the use of social networking and new media technologies such as TwitterCase studies includeProtests about regime change in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and RussiaCorruption in IndiaThe demise of the welfare state in Spain, Israel and GreeceThe living wage in Botswana and WisconsinThe financial crisis and corporate greed and the Occupy movement in British and American cities
This book reveals the limitations of dominant Western International Relations for studying the Arab Uprisings. It shows instead that focusing on varied social forces and non-state actors, as well as ...domestic semi-political and socio-economic transformations, can establish new ways of reading foreign policy and politics of post-revolutionary Middle East countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, and GCC countries.
For the millions of citizens in the Arab World who came together in 2010-2011 to discover their common yearning for dignity and liberty, the real revolutions only began after the wave of protests. ...Understanding the Political Economy of the Arab Uprisings reassess the interests, potential and constraints of various socio-political players and their importance in the building of a constructive environment for democratic progress in the Middle East. Initiated by the Cairo-based Economic Research Forum and edited by Ishac Diwan, this invaluable volume features contributions by Middle East academics across the world. They examine the reasons behind the uprisings, how democratic transitions transpire, the role of Arab capitalism in the crises, and how the experiences of other countries such as Indonesia, Turkey and Iran, can forecast where these uprisings may lead the Middle East in the years to come.Contents:PrefaceIntroductionThe Genesis of the Uprisings:The Political Economy of Arab Presidents for Life - and After (Roger Owen)Understanding Revolution in the Middle East: The Central Role of the Middle Class (Ishac Diwan)The Making of the Tunisian Revolution (Fadhel Kaboub)A Transition to Democracy?:On the Determinants of Democratic Transitions (Caroline Freund and Melise Jaud)Islamists in Power? Inclusion, Moderation, and the Arab Uprisings (Jillian Schwedler)Arab Capitalism in Crisis:Detecting Corruption and Evaluating Programs to Control It: Some Lessons for MENA (Jeffrey B Nugent)Enhancing Competition in a Post-Revolutionary Arab Context: Does the Turkish Experience Provide Any Lessons? (Izak Atiyas)Lessons from Elsewhere:Political and Economic Developments in Turkey and The Transformation of Political Islam (1950-2010) (Hasan Ersel)Social Order, Rents, and Economic Development in Iran Since the Early 20th Century (Hadi S Esfahani & Esra Ç Gürakar)What Happened in the Early Years of Democracy: Indonesia's Experience (Akhmad R Shidiq and Philips J Vermonte)Readership: Graduate and research students, political scientists, economists, social scientists who specialize in the political economy of the Middle East and current affairs in the MENA Region.
Since 2011, the art of the Arab uprisings has been the subject of much scholarly and popular attention. Yet the role of artists, writers and filmmakers themselves as social actors working under ...extraordinary conditions has been relatively neglected. Drawing on critical readings of Bourdieu’s Field Theory, this book explores the production of culture in Arab social spaces in ‘crisis’. In ten case studies, contributors examine a wide range of countries and conflicts, from Algeria to the Arab countries of the Gulf. They discuss among other things the impact of Western public diplomacy organisations on the arts scene in post-revolutionary Cairo and the consequences of dwindling state support for literary production in Yemen. Providing a valuable source of empirical data for researchers, the book breaks new ground in adapting Bourdieu’s theory to the particularities of cultural production in the Middle East and North Africa.
