Bøker av Azmi Bishara

A renowned social scientist reflects on democratisation theory as applied in the Middle East.

Azmi Bishara's book on the Syrian Revolution is one of the most comprehensive and profound works on the subject published to date. Translated here into English for the first time, the study examines the complex roots of Syria's political and sectarian conflicts from the day revolution erupted on 15th March 2011 to its descent into civil war in the two years that followed. The book unearths and discusses the very first signs of protests from across Daraa, Hama, Aleppo, Damascus, Raqqa, Deir El Zour, Edlib and Homs, and it deals with Syria's ruralization process and the subsequent economic 'liberalization', which eventually led to the revolt against the Baath party. The work is based on high-level interviews, analysis of the country's socio-economic background, and examination of the Syrian regime's strategy and its political and media discourse. Syria's revolution is chronicled in two stages: the peaceful civil stage and the armed stage. Bishara's analysis first centres on the regime's strategy, unveiling despotism, massacres, kidnapping, sectarian tendencies, jihadist violence, the emergence of warlords, and the chaotic spread of arms. He then turns to the role of the opposition to narrate in detail the events that broke out and exactly how a peaceful protest turned into an armed struggle. The book provides a roadmap to how revolution broke out and is a comprehensive analysis of what drove those early events. Its publication brings renowned Arabic-language scholarship to the English-speaking world.

On Salafism offers a compelling new understanding of this phenomenon, both its development and contemporary manifestations. Salafism became associated with fundamentalism when the 9/11 Commission used it to explain the terror attacks and has since been connected with the violence of the so-called Islamic State. With this book, Azmi Bishara critically deconstructs claims of continuity between early Islam and modern militancy and makes a counterargument: Salafism is a wholly modern construct informed by specific sociopolitical contexts. Bishara offers a sophisticated account of various movements-such as Wahabbism and Hanbalism-frequently collapsed into simplistic understandings of Salafism. He distinguishes reformist from regressive Salafism, and examines patterns of modernization in the development of contemporary Islamic political movements and associations. In deconstructing the assumptions of linear continuity between traditional and contemporary movements, Bishara details various divergences in both doctrine and context of modern Salafisms, plural. On Salafism is a crucial read for those interested in Islamism, jihadism, and Middle East politics and history.

Azmi Bishara's book on the Syrian Revolution is one of the most comprehensive and profound works on the subject published to date. Translated here into English for the first time, the study examines the complex roots of Syria's political and sectarian conflicts from the day revolution erupted on 15th March 2011 to its descent into civil war in the two years that followed. The book unearths and discusses the very first signs of protests from across Daraa, Hama, Aleppo, Damascus, Raqqa, Deir El Zour, Edlib and Homs, and it deals with Syria's ruralization process and the subsequent economic 'liberalization', which eventually led to the revolt against the Baath party. The work is based on high-level interviews, analysis of the country's socio-economic background, and examination of the Syrian regime's strategy and its political and media discourse. Syria's revolution is chronicled in two stages: the peaceful civil stage and the armed stage. Bishara's analysis first centres on the regime's strategy, unveiling despotism, massacres, kidnapping, sectarian tendencies, jihadist violence, the emergence of warlords, and the chaotic spread of arms. He then turns to the role of the opposition to narrate in detail the events that broke out and exactly how a peaceful protest turned into an armed struggle. The book provides a roadmap to how revolution broke out and is a comprehensive analysis of what drove those early events. Its publication brings renowned Arabic-language scholarship to the English-speaking world.

Azmi Bishara's seminal study of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution chronicles in granular detail the lead up to the momentous uprisings and the subsequent transition and coup. The book critically investigates the social and economic conditions that formed the backdrop to the revolution and the complex challenges posed by the transition from authoritarianism to democracy. Part One, 'From July Coup to January Revolution', goes back to what is called the '1952 revolution' or the '1952 Coup d'état' and traces events until 2011 when Hosni Mubarak stepped down as the president of Egypt after weeks of protest. It highlights the relationship between the presidency and the army to show that, contrary to popular belief, the presidency grew gradually stronger at the expense of other institutions, especially the army, and reached its apogee under Mubarak. Part Two 'From Revolution to Coup d'Etat', covers the critical stages from when the military junta took over the governing of Egypt as the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), and the election of Morsi, up until the coup to overthrow his presidency. Using a democratic transition theory perspective, Azmi Bishara explains the failure of the democratic transition and how it has impacted on Arab revolutions ever since. Written while the revolutions were taking place, this book conveys a sense of immediacy and urgency as Bishara makes wide-ranging assessments with many of his forecasts corroborated in later years. The book is renowned for its use of primary source material - including interviews, statistics and public opinion polls - thus preserving the memory of the revolution and remaining one of the most comprehensive reference books on the subject to date.