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[email protected] warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications Political Agency and the Symbolic Legacy of Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Libya Kawther Nuri Alfasi A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics and International Studies University of Warwick Department of Politics and International Studies September 2017 Contents Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv List of Acronyms v 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Why Study Political Agency? Why Authoritarianism? 2 1.2 Political Agency and the Libyan Uprising of 2011 7 1.3 Theoretical Framework 11 1.4 Research Methods and Reflexivity 16 1.5 Chapter Outline 21 2 Literature Review: Political Agency in the Middle East 25 2.1 Introduction 25 2.2 Political Agency and Resilient Autocracy 26 2.3 Political Agency: Beyond Democratisation and Authoritarian Resilience 32 2.4 Political Agency and the Arab Spring 38 2.5 Political Agency under Authoritarianism: Toward a Point of Enquiry 46 3 Theoretical Framework 48 3.1 Introduction 48 3.2 Structural Social Movement Theory 49 3.2.1