Emerging Political and Social Revolts

Description

Part of the CRASSH Fellows Work in Progress seminar series. All welcome, but please email Michelle Maciejewska if you wish to attend and to request readings.   Sandwich lunch and refreshments provided.

Dr Milad El Harthi

My research investigates general themes towards understanding the emerging political and social revolts from the Arab streets and squares and tracing the challenges and prospects for younger generation revolts. The  factors  behind such revolts and protests are education, unemployment, economic prosperity and  political participation. I shall provide Libya as a case study for the analysis. I will trace certain roles played in this uprising by the private sectors, social media and foreign intervention. This is because debate has emerged about the role of the Internet and social media in fueling the upsurge in the younger generation revolt and protest.  I shall ask why  the streets and squares were occupied for political and social change? Is it a new dynamic exploration of the shape and timing of this leaderless revolution, the actual and influential players behind them, and the tactics and protest frames they developed? We need to understand how this leaderless revolution, the people and protests movements in the Libyan example, has brought a new phase of change between radical and moderate shift; how politics will contain the new leadership as a new wave of power challenges. This paper examines these changes. Is this ongoing phase causing a radical shift in the way we think about our politics of power and people.  Is a new and empowering democracy emerging on the streets and the squares of Libya ready to bring down down the authoritarian government practice, in an unexpected  moment?  How will our politics  contain the new revolt move by the younger generation to safeguard our societies from continuing uprisings, upheaval and turmoil?