Introduction
In the summer of 2015 Beirut was, literally, flooding with trash. It had been mounting since the contract between the government and Sukleen, a private company with exclusive rights for waste collection, had expired that July. Moreover, since 1997 garbage from Beirut and Mount Lebanon had been transported to Na’ameh, originally as a temporary measure. Since 2014, the residents of Na’ameh demanded for the closing of the dumpsite. As no progress had been made, in the summer of 2015 they blocked the access to the dumpsite, intensifying the crisis in Beirut (Nayel, 2015).
A group named YouStink emerged and called for a solution to the trash problem. Soon other actors joined with various demands, expanding the movement from dealing with the trash crisis to criticising the elite for failing the citizens. This social movement gained unprecedented popularity. In the Arabic media it received a name al-harak al-sha’by (The Popular Movement) (Kraidy, 2016: 21). Following Nayel and Moghnieh (2015), this essay thus uses the term Harak.
This essay offers a broad analysis of the Harak. First,
…show more content…
Class divisions are very often neglected in analysis of Lebanon due to an overemphasis on sectarian divisions, but as Beinin and Duboc (2013) argue with the case of Egypt, class is an important explanatory category. While Abu-Rish’s analysis is very important in raising many crucial points, this essay moves forward from problematizing previous lenses, and offers an alternative one, the class lens. It will be shown that neo-liberalism of Lebanon benefitting the small corrupt upper class was an important context in creating the Harak. Moreover, the actions, and the networks that were created, all show that the classist discourse was eminent in the movement, and especially that there is a rift between the middle and working classes in
The article named “spring awakening” wrote by Jose Vargas describes the impact of social media in converting the mentality of young Egyptian generations into bold and defend their inalienable rights as a citizen. This article justifies how social media can mobilize a tremendous number of people to stand up for their rights. The reasons that inspire my emotion is emerging of “Wael Ghonim” as a legendary vocal figure of action for change, revelation of social media as earthquake for change, and fundamental soci-political change.
Alexis Rockman traveled the world, and used his travels as inspiration for his paintings. He painted the Kapok Tree after visiting Guyana, a country in South America. This painting beautifully depicts a tree in the rainforest. He addresses the fact that there are so many problems in society that are being overlooked. People do not realize their importance in changing things for good. Not only do we have the ability to cause change, it is our responsibility because we are the root of all the problems. Alexis Rockman frames the Kapok Tree in such a way that the audience notices the vibrantly colored lifeforms at the bottom and then he draws a line, with the tree, up to the dark sky showing how there is so much more to this world than we first realize.
Washington University, author Marc Lynch pens a work he titled The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East to dispel thoughts and misconceptions that unrest in the Middle East, particularly in the areas of political and social mobilizations, are in fact a new phenomenon. Utilizing his wealth of experience within the Middle East and topics pertaining to it, Lynch choose to analyze what lead to the downfall of four of the Middle East’s regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Syria along with the unfolding of events leading up to the “Arab Spring,” along with the results and aftermath of aforementioned events. The “Arab Awakening” or the “Arab Spring,” as ordained by westernized news outlets, was a series of both non-violent
"Arab Spring Fallout Fuels Mediterranean Smuggling Rise." Times of Malta. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
David W Lesch, Mark L Haas. The Arab Spring: Change and Resistance in the Middle East. Westview Press, 2012.
The authoritarian regimes of the Middles cycled through a pattern of anti-western policy until the globalization effects of economics and information demanded reform. As conservative Arab states try to maintain the autocracy they relied on after gaining independence, their citizens, affected by information and education expansion, challenge their resistant governments as typified by Syria’s unwillingness to capitulate. The proliferation of information and education underscored the protest movements of the Arab Spring because citizens’ contempt for their obstinate governments grew to large under economic pressures, as the current situation in Syria demonstrates.
(Turner and Killian 1987) cited in (Diani 1992, p. 4) define social movements as a “collectivity acting with some continuity to promote or resist a change in the society or organisation of which it is part. As a collectivity a movement is a group with indefinite and shifting membership and with leadership whose position is determined more by informal response of adherents than by formal procedures for legitimizing authority”. Turner and Killian regard a social movement as a peculiar kind of collective behavior that is contrasted to regularity and institutional behavior. Additionally, Turner believes that social movements do not necessarily coincide with movement organisations, although these organisations can carry out a large part of the movement tasks and it is often help to control and speak for movements (Diani 1992).
Eliot, T. S., and Michael North. The Waste Land: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 2001. Print.
Ibnouf, Fatma Osman. “Women And The Arab Spring.” Women & Environments International Magazine 92/93(2013): 18-21. MasterFILE Elite.Web.31 Mar. 2014.
Paul Hawken, in the chapter “Blessed Unrest,” records the people of a new social movement, as well as their ideals, goals, and principles. He writes how they are connected, along with the diversity and differences they bring to make the social movement unique. Hawken communicates to the readers the various social, environmental, and political problems they will encounter in today’s world as well as similar problems of the past. Problems that these groups of organizations are planning to undertake with the perseverance of humanity.
Based on the constructivist view, the Civil War in Syria is initiated by the identity conflict between two groups which are the Assad’s regime and the rebel. Assad’s regime originates from minority Alawite, who made up 12 percent of the Syria population and also dominates most of the position in Syria government (citation). However, this identity conflict is not on religion based as the rebel’s side consists variation of group such as Sunni sect, Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other citizens. Besides, the Assad’s regimes as well consist of other society despite of the Alwite. Based on this condition, it is clearly portray that, even though a group is made up of multiple identities, they still can pursue t...
Through a plethora of odd cinematic choices, it seems that Harakiri serves as a metaphor for the American-Japanese conflict in World War II. The film contains multiple elements that demonstrate this connection quite clearly but others are slightly more tenuous. The critical elements that piece this metaphor together are the original situation leading to the death of Motome Chijiiwa, the final fight between House Iyi and Tsugumo Hanshiro, and the end of Tsugumo Hanshiro in conjunction with the conclusion. The director, Masaki Kobayashi, has also inserted minute elements that give this argument a slightly more solid backbone.
Class society, is a set of concepts in the social sciences and political theory centered on models of social arrangements in which people are grouped into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle, and lower classes. In the book “Persepolis”, Satrapi explains her life in the corrupt society of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Satrapi and her parents fight to maintain normalcy and stay safe in the dangers of the outside world. All around the country, citizens are being killed, raped, and beaten because of accusations of communism and threats against the Regime. The main message that Satrapi is trying to portray is the effects of social classes in a society, specifically Iran. The same influence of social
Researchers classify social movements according to the type of change they seek (Aberle, 1966, Cameron, 1966, Blumer, 1969, as cited in Macionis, 2007). According to John Macionis, a social movement is when people commonly band together to create an organized activity that encourages or discourages social change (Macionis, 2008). In the case of this radical society, Hippies were typically ...
Throughout the three books which compose the series it is easy to see examples of class struggle, ruling class ideologies, and revolution. I intend to focus on these