North Africa: New Forms of Social Movements, Social Non-Movements, and Social Non-Actors

Taught by Amal Abdrabo, PhD, lecturer in Sociology at the University of Alexandria and fellow of the Oumou Dilly Foundation

The Arab Spring period, starting late 2010, resembled the Renaissance of street activities especially in Tunisia and Egypt. Taking Egypt as an example, the 25^th of January 2011 was the peak of freedom of expression Egyptians have ever reached. Everyone was able to say what is on their minds, be it face-to-face or through social media platforms. However, this did not last for long. Today, Egyptians tend to express their views through forms of media that no longer correspond to the canonical definition of social movements. They are now using uncanny ways of expressing their opinion, i.e. graffiti and public writings on the back of cars and inside shrines. In this light, can we consider these practices as non-social movements? In the absence of more direct political confrontation, in terms of collective action and street protest, can we define participants of these new practices as social actors? Can public messages in the form of graffiti be considered as a form of non-social movements? What can we say about the changing face of the political reality within the Arab Spring countries from a comparative perspective? Based on Asef Bayat’s concept of the Social Non-movement, the workshop discusses the everyday life practices of ordinary people in the endeavor of expressing their opinion. Moreover, it explores the ‘politics of presence’ imposed by ordinary people and practiced within the public sphere after the Arab Spring from a North African perspective. The objective is to explore the Art of Presence of ordinary people, through which power is produced and reproduced within the society.

Workshop Themes: 

• Theme I: The Arab Spring in North Africa 2010-2012 - Reality and the “Past” (Tunisia and Egypt). 
• Theme II: Liminal Spaces of Participation (Theoretical Foundations).
• Theme III:  Public Writings: Back to Reality – the “Present”

Requirements: This workshop is designed for PhD candidates and advanced MA students. Each participant will prepare a short presentation (max. 10 mins) linking their own research project to the general theme and/or subthemes of the workshop.  Registration: For registration please provide an expression of interest (250-500 words) to: amal.abdrabo@unibas.ch explaining your motivation for joining the workshop and stating the expected benefits. The memo should include the title of your own research project and situate it under one of the workshop themes. The deadline for submission is Monday, 15^th April 2019.

Readings: There will be a list of light reading for the workshop that will be circulated amongst accepted participants beforehand. The following texts provide an introduction to the different themes of the workshop:

• Bayat, Asef. 2000. "From ‘Dangerous Classes’ to ‘Quiet Rebels’: Politics of the Urban Subaltern in the Global South”. In: International Sociology, September 2000, Vol. 15(3). Pp. 533–557.
• Bayat, Asef. 2013. "The Arab Spring and its Surprises". International Institute of Social Studies. In: Development and Change Vol. 44, Issue: 3. Pp. 587–601.
• Bayat, Asef. 2017. "Revolutions of Wrong Times". In: Revolution without Revolutionaries: Making Sense of the Arab Spring. Stanford University Press. Pp. 1-27.
• LeVine, Mark. 2015. "When Art Is the Weapon: Culture and Resistance Confronting Violence in the Post-Uprisings Arab World". In: Religions 2015, 6, 1277–1313; doi:10.3390/rel6041277. www.mdpi.com/journal/religions 
• Schielke, Samuli.  2012. “Surfaces of Longing: Cosmopolitan Aspiration and Frustration in Egypt”.  The American Anthropological Association & Zentrum Moderner Orient (Berlin, Germany). In: City & Society, Vol. 24, Issue 1, pp. 29–37.
• Turner, Victor. 1969. "Liminality and Communitas". In: The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure".  Chicago: Aldine Publishing, 1969. Pp. 359-374.

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