The New Arab Revolutions That Shook the World FARHAD KHOSROKHAVAR A Paradigm Publishers Boulder • London Contents Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 The Enlarged Phenomenological Perspective 5 A New Paradigm for Social Movements? 8 The Demo-Movements (DM) 10 The Arc of Demo-Movements 11 Part I: Unexpected Demo-Movements in the Middle East and North Africa and Their Dynamics 15 1 The Iranian Green Movement 21 Differences and Similarities between the Arab Revolutions 21 Precedents of the Green Movement 24 2 The Tunisian Revolution of Dignity and Freedom 28 The Historical Precedents 28 The Gafsa Mineral Field, 28 The 18 October Movement for Rights and Freedoms, 31 The Ben Guerdane Revolt, 32 The Counterintuitive Character of the Tunisian Revolution 32 The Jasmin Revolution's Symbolic Causes 35 The Hectic Revolutionary Imaginary 36 The Revolutionary Drama Unfolds 38 The Effect of New Communications on the Jasmin Revolution 41 3 Egypt's Revolution 43 Historical Precedents 44 The Kefaya Movement, 45 The April 6 Youth Movement, 47 Khaled Said and His Posthumous Role, 47 The Impact of New Communications on the Egyptian Revolution 48 vi CONTENTS 4 The Arab Spring through Historical Precedents in Other Countries 51 The Reactionary Awakening and the Containment of the French Revolution 51 The Springtime of the People, 1848 51 Dual Visions of Revolution: 1688 versus 1789 52 Comparison with Color and Velvet Revolutions in Eastern Europe 53 Latin American Transition to Democracy as Another Parallel to the Arab Spring 55 The Cedar Revolution in Lebanon 56 PART II The Would-Be Middle Class as the Subjective Foundation of the Arab Spring 59 5 The "Would-Be Middle Class" 61 Women and the Sense of Quasi-Equality with Men 63 Dignity versus Honor 64 Dignity, Humiliation, Decency, Recognition 68 The Three Periods and the Fate of Empathy 71 Perspectives of Civil Society 76 The Subjective Civil Society, 77 Netizens and the Virtual Agora, 79 Lessons from the Past, 79 Subjectivation as the Self-Realization of the Would-Be Middle Class 80 The Role of the Economy in the Would-Be Middle Class 82 Diaspora and the Dream of Joining the Middle Class 83 The Imaginary Side of the Diaspora 85 Revisiting Modernization Theories 86 6 Characteristics of the Demo-Movements 91 Lack of Explicit Leadership 91 Avoidance of Violence 93 Reconsidering Nonviolence in the Arab Autumn, 94 Lack of Explicit Strategy ' 97 Lack of Specific Ideology 97 The Death of Holistic Utopias: Authoritarian Nationalism versus Jihadism 97 The Lack of an Avant-Garde and the Advent of Intermediary Intellectuals 99 The Loss of Centrality of Religion: The Post-Islamist Age 103 The New Pan-Arabism versus the Old 104 The Historical Precedents, 104 Divisions in the Arab World, 106 The Three Waves of Pan-Arabism, 106 CONTENTS vii , Democracy without Shame 107 The Gender Issue 110 The Islamic Puzzle 112 The Islamist Question: The Taming of the Shrew?, 118 The Evolution of a Revolutionary Group towards Democracy in Morocco, 120 The Student Movement in Iran, 123 ' 7 Obstacles to Democracy 126 Sectarian, Communal, and Tribal Strife 126 Bahrain as a Case of Pseudo-Sectarian Strife, 128 Syrian Sectarianism, 129 Egypt's Communal Strife, 131 Yemen's Sectarian and Communal Strife, 133 Libyan Tribal Strife, 137 Violence in the Uprising 142 The Persecuted Identity 143 The "Refuseniks" Attitude 146 The Difficult Task of Overcoming Sectarianism 146 PART III The New Social Actors 149 8 Social and State Actors and New Technologies 151 Types of Social Movements According to Communication Technology 151 Technologies of Communication 152 Authoritarian Governments' Use of the Media, 156 The Internet, Arab Public Opinion, and the New Individual, 158 Soft Mobilization Technologies 164 9 The New Social Actor and Demographics 167 t: Demographic Change 167 Role of Education 170 Access to New Communication Technologies 171 10 Types of Activists, Old and New 174 Citizen Journalists 175 Mistreated Journalists in the Post-Revolutionary Era 177 . Human Rights Activists and World Public Opinion as a Moral Witness 178 Nonpolitical Activists 183 Child, Adolescent, and Teenage Activists, 185 Political Activists 187 Professionals 188 Medics as the New Activists, 188 viii CONTENTS Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs 190 Women Activists 194 Asma Mahfouz, 194 Mona Seif and Gigi Ibrahim, 196 Nawara Najem, 197 Tawakul Karman, 198 Bushra al-Maqtari, 200 Syrian Women Activists, 201 Simple Nurses, 203 Transgression of Blasphemy Rules: The Naked Woman on Facebook 203 Clerics and Theologians 205 Muslim Brotherhood Youth, 207 Martyrs for a Cause 208 Self-immolation: Bouazizi's Paradigm of Martyrdom, 208 Benghazi's Martyr Mehdi Zive, 210 On-the-Spot Journalist Mohammed Nabbous, 211 Al Jazeera Martyr Ali Hassan al-Jaber, 211 Fortuitous Martyr Neda Agha Soltan, 212 Martyrs with or without Premeditation, 213 Collective Tunisian Martyrs and Their Celebration in a Politically Motivated Manner, 214 The Ambiguous Martyr, 214 Heroes 215 Trade Union Activists 216 Heavy Metal Activists 217 The Trans-Sectarian Activist: Fadwa Soliman 218 Royal Family Members 218 Ambiguous Actors: The Ex-Jihadist Belhaj 220 The Cousins al-Zumar, Former Jihadists, Current Peaceful Party Members? 221 Organizations as Social Actors 222 The Gaza Youth Movement, 223 The Campaign for One Million Signatures and Iranian Women Activists, 224 Football Clubs and Players, 226' The Free Syrian Army: Defecting Soldiers 228 The Egyptian Islamic Group Gama'a al-Islamiya: From Jihad to Peaceful Party Politics 229 11 The Symbolic Dimensions of the Arab Spring 232 The Revolutionary Slogan "People Demand . ." 236 Cultural Mobilization through Music and Poetry 237 Symbolic Days 244 New Functions of Western Languages 255 Symbolic Topography 257 Countersymbolic Figures 267 Desecrating the Dictator, 268 CONTENTS ix Rationale behind the Jokes, 273 The Symbolic Dimension of Mubarak's Trial 275 12 The Geopolitical Actors 276 Before the Arab Spring 276 The Counterrevolutionary Reaction to the Arab Spring 277 America's Dilemma 280 Ambivalent American Policies and Their Unintended Consequences 282 Iran's Malaise 284 Arab Governments, Washington, and the Rise of Turkey 287 The Rise of Qatar 290 Current Consequences of the Arab Spring 291 Conclusion 294 Glossary 301 Notes 303 Bibliography 337 About the Author 35 7.