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Looking back, looking forward: inheriting the revolutions of the ‘Arab Spring’ [1]
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Date: 2023-10
Although the last three to four decades have seen various attempts to delegitimise meaningful and radical change through revolution, following the shortcomings and defeat of decolonisation efforts in various parts of the global South, and although counter-revolutionary onslaughts will always seek to crush the will of the people – the events of 2011 showed that revolutions and uprisings for emancipation continue (and will continue).
The revolutionary experience
For both of us, as for many activists, the pride and hope that these events generated remains deeply personal and political. Our career paths, activism and world views were shaped by this formative political experience. We participated in conferences and round tables celebrating and analysing these historical events, we marched with our peoples in protests, and we were involved in various solidarity initiatives. We discussed, debated and disagreed with friends and comrades. Sometimes we felt hopeful, at others sad and dispirited. Above all, we learnt a great deal: engaging with revolutionary praxis offers a unique source of knowledge.
Nevertheless, we cannot deny that what started as inspiring uprisings against authoritarianism and oppressive socioeconomic conditions – demanding bread, justice and dignity – morphed into violence and chaos, profound polarisations, counter-revolution and foreign intervention.
The various people’s movements in the region found themselves pitted against entrenched authoritarian and counter-revolutionary forces bent on suppressing them. All were met with resistance from the state, often in conjunction with global capital and foreign interference.
The military coup in Egypt ended up restoring a much more ruthless and repressive form of dictatorship. The brutal descent into civil wars in Syria, Libya and Yemen, and the series of crackdowns in Gulf countries like Bahrain, provide examples of the cruel logic of proxy war so reminiscent of the colonial schemes with which the region and its people are all too familiar.
Tunisia, which had seemed to be the exception amid this gloom and doom, is now in a very fragile position. Moreover, the deep polarisations – for example, Islamists versus secularists – imposed on the masses have distracted them from the key socioeconomic issues that were at the heart of the uprisings in the first place.
A long-term view
Some mainstream commentators have argued that the ‘Arab Spring’ gave way to an ‘Islamist winter’, as Islamist forces came to power in some countries. Some progressive voices have been less pessimistic and have presented a more historically nuanced perspective, arguing that these events should be seen as part of a long-term revolutionary process, with ups and downs, periods of radicalisation, and periods of setback and counter-revolution.
This latter view received some vindication when, eight years after the 2010/11 events, an escalation of the revolutionary process took place, in the form of a second wave of uprisings in Sudan, Algeria, Iraq and Lebanon (2018–21), alongside the return to the spotlight in 2021 of the unending and heroic struggle of the Palestinians – all of which reveals people’s determination to continue fighting for their rights and sovereignty.
All of these momentous events between 2010 and 2021 have opened new horizons for people to express their discontent and demand radical change and reforms, forcing almost every government in the region to concede on issues – both political and economic.
Challenging misconceptions
When we embarked on a project to commemorate this decade of struggle in the region, our guiding principle was the important role of memory in our movements for justice and freedom, and the crucial task of maintaining an archive. Our political memory is not an automatic process, like muscle memory; rather, it is shaped by the political and economic conditions in which we exist.
The nurturing of political affinity and the maintenance of radical kinship does not occur in a vacuum – it must be fed to be kept alive. It must be archived and reflected upon. Anniversaries provide one occasion for such activities, and that is what this project represents. The project includes webinars and podcasts, together with a dossier of articles, all of which can help us to look at the concrete within what are sometimes too-abstract debates, and to engage with some less visible cases.
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[1] Url:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/looking-back-looking-forward-inheriting-the-revolutions-of-the-arab-spring/
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