Journal - Orient Online

Lessons from political transitions in the Arab world: A citizens’ perspective

Francesco Cavatorta

While the paradigm of authoritarian resilience dominated the literature on the Arab world during the 2000s, the Arab uprisings saw the resurgence of the democratisation literature to explain political developments in the region. Building on the theoretical assumptions of the democratisation paradigm, several studies appeared attempting to explain why some political transitions to democracy were successful and why others instead failed. When it became clear that many Arab regimes simply would not fall, the paradigm of authoritarian resilience was revived. The empirical reality escapes both paradigms though, and ten years after the beginning of the uprisings the main trends in Arab politics cannot be captured easily within the parameters of either paradigm. The article discusses what these trends are, who the main actors are and how they relate to both paradigms.

Francesco Cavatorta is a Professor at the Department of Political Science of the Université Laval. His research interests include political transformations, Salafism and the moderation of Islamist parties in the Middle East and North Africa.

Traditional media, digital platforms and social protests in post-Arab Spring Morocco

Abdelmalek El Kadoussi, Bouziane Zaid and Mohammed Ibahrine

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The Arab Spring protests in Morocco, which started on 20 February 2011, have left a significant impact on political configurations and practices as well as on political culture and civil society activism. Moroccan citizens have taken to the streets and squares and to the virtual spaces more often in the last ten years than ever before. This paper discusses the role that offline and online media played in different social protest events. It demonstrates how online media managed to create a public space for free political expression, which led to a series of mass protests, and how the state has clamped down on Internet freedom through the use of a variety of repressive mechanisms. The Moroccan experience proves that the role of digital media is ponderable rather than deterministic in promoting social activism.

Abdelmalek El Kadoussi is Assistant Professor of Media and Communication at Ibn Toufail University, Kenitra, Morocco. Over the last 15 years, he has conducted research on different layers of media scholarship, including but not confined to media and democratisation, media political economy and others. He has presented papers in national and international congresses and published in national and international journals.

Bouziane Zaid is Associate Professor of Global Communication at the University of Sharjah, UAE. His research interests are in the areas of media technologies, media law and policy, media advocacy and strategic communication. He has presented his research in more than 20 countries in North and South America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Dr. Zaid has authored and co-authored two books and numerous journal articles, country reports and book chapters. He has served as a consultant for UNESCO, Open Society Foundation, Freedom House and other international organisations.

Mohammed Ibahrine is Associate Professor for Marketing Communications at the American University of Sharjah, UAE. His research interests cover technology and marketing, design thinking, entrepreneurship, innovation and the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution.

The Journal for politics, economics, and culture of the Middle East published by the German Orient-Institute

Topics

Keywords

ORIENT I 2021: Ten years after the Arab Spring

ORIENT IV 2020: Syria – Dynamics of war and issues of reconstruction

ORIENT III 2020: Public Health and the Near and Middle East

ORIENT II 2020: Reforms and Elections in the Middle East and North Africa

ORIENT I 2020: The Sustainable Development Goals and the Near and Middle East

ORIENT IV 2019: Factors and dynamics of stability and instability

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Tunisian youth: Demands for dignity in the context of challenging socio-political and economic upheaval

Civil society as revolutionary diplomats?: Foreign policy after the Arab Spring

Civil society, social mobilisation and the Arab Spring

Traditional media, digital platforms and social protests in post-Arab Spring Morocco

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