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The Spirit of an Uprising: Contentious Politics and Pluralism in Syrian Society Post Arab Spring
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- Author / Creator
- Zaamout, Noureddin Mahmoud
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The transformation of the crisis in Syria from a peaceful uprising, into a geopolitical proxy war, shifted scholarly attention away from Syrian society to other issues such as security, geopolitics, and the refugee crisis. While these topics are important, more research is required to better understand Syrian society and contentious politics under difficult circumstances. Charles Tilly defines contentious politics as the process of making claims against other interests, where governments can either be initiators of claims, targets or third parties consisting of various types of actions – including protests, strikes, riots, revolution, and, as shown by James Scott and Asef Bayat, it also includes informal everyday resistance. I examine these practices in Syrian society, shedding light on vibrant social dynamics that continue to operate across the country under difficult conditions. More specifically, I focus on the two primary questions: How was contentious politics exercised in Syria under semi-totalitarian conditions and what explains the emergence of the 2011 uprising? What impact has the escalation of the crisis had on the pluralist project of the Syrian uprising in society?
This dissertation employs a two-fold methodology, examining primary/secondary sources and semi-structured interviews. The former is employed to examine a content produced by notable individuals and civil society organizations, while the latter is used to analyze data from interviews with a representative sample (based on various socio-economic indicators) of 34 individuals recruited from members of the Syrian diaspora. Theoretically, I rely on what I refer to as a postcolonial critical cosmopolitan (PCC) framework and Asef Bayat’s theory of social non-movements to offer a critical understanding of the dynamics of contention in politically-closed societies, as well as the examine capacity of societies governed by autocratic regimes/undergoing conflict to retrain pluralist ideals -focusing on Syria.
I investigate the history of state-society relations, highlighting the contradictions, challenges and complexities underpinning the formation of the Syrian state and its relations with society. I argue that such relations have been conditioned by colonially imposed realities and a turbulent post-colonial political process. I demonstrate how Syria has traditionally enjoyed one of the strongest and most vibrant civil societies in the Middle East, which played a crucial role in mobilizing strong anti-French resistance during colonial occupation. The Assad's regime’ semi-totalitarian policies effectively dismantled and fragmented civil society, leading most observers to assume that contentious processes were virtually eliminated for good – especially after the 1982 Hama massacre. Contrary to these assumptions, findings from my field research reveal that in the void left due to the fragmentation of civil society, various patterns of underground contention emerged and operated across Syria.
Applying Bayat’s theory of social non-movements, I demonstrate how contention processes in Syria have operated through social non-movement, mainly through informal, close-knit inner circles formed among people across society. I argue that through these social spaces, ordinary Syrians created defiant alternative spaces to express agency that succeeded in bypassing the regime's security network. Such communities of inner circles survived by producing organic support and collective defence mechanisms that allowed them to be resilient under harsh conditions. Through such processes, cultural manifestations of resistance emerged and permitted people to forge networks and solidarities to defy and bypass the Syrian state and its intelligence agencies. I show how these non-movements mobilized into formal protest movements in 2011, demonstrating how the solidarities, identities and tactics employed by decades of underground contention sustained such a shift.
Aided by the PCC framework, I turn to the second question – locating the pluralist project of the Syrian uprising. I demonstrate that this project remains vibrant and alive in society. Data collected from my field research shows a solid commitment to a free and democratic Syria. Overall, participants' outlook on the future reflected cautious optimism: While the majority strongly believed that the uprising would succeed in the end, there was a recognition that Syrian society is suffering from significant wounds and traumas that need to be remedied. Analysis of civil society groups demonstrates that the discourse of a sample of examined organizations is aligned with the pluralist project of the Syrian uprising.
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2023
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Doctor of Philosophy
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.