Political Economy of Arab Uprisings

Öz

During the transition from 2010 to 2011, social movements started to be a common occurrence within the Arab public sphere ranging from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf. The said movements were coined with many names such as Arab Spring, Arab Uprisings and Arab Revolutions. Although neither of these names are sufficient enough to explain the process, it is possible to state that the year 2011 triggered one of the most important transformation periods in the history of modern Middle East. In this context, this article titled ‘Political-Economy of the Arab Uprisings’ will present a political-economic review of these uprisings. To read the Arab Uprisings only from a democracy demand perspective without making a class analysis, will prevent us from reaching the main answer of Muhammed Bouazizi's self-immolation or why Dera was the starting point of the uprising in Syria. The study aims to understand and explain the events through a long term examination based on this justification. The Arab Uprisings of 2011 were not spontaneous events. It has its roots and future consequences. By withdrawing from the narrow perspective of sectarian-essentialist entrapment, the expression of class hierarchies and exclusion which still persists in the Middle East after the Arab Uprisings will ensure the understanding of the structures that the “New Middle East” has inherited.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Middle East,Arab Uprisings,Political-economic,Liberalization,Neoliberalism,Financial crisis

Arap Ayaklanmalarının Ekonomi Politiği

Öz

2010’dan 2011 yılına geçilirken toplumsal hareketler Atlantik Okyanusu’ndan İran Körfezi’ne uzanan Arap kamusal alanında kendisini yaygın bir şekilde göstermeye başladı. Söz konusu hareketler Arap Baharı, Arap Uyanışı, Arap Ayaklanmaları ve Arap Devrimi gibi pek çok isim ile kendisine yer buldu. Bu isimlerden herhangi birisi süreci anlatmak için yeterli olmasa da 2011 yılının modern Ortadoğu tarihindeki önemli dönüşüm süreçlerinden birini tetiklediğini söylemek mümkündür. Bu bağlamda, ‘Arap Ayaklanmalarının Politik-Ekonomisi’ başlıklı bu çalışma, ayaklanmaların politik-ekonomik bir incelemesini sunacaktır. Arap Ayaklanmaları’nın sınıfsal bir analizi yapılmadan sadece demokrasi talebi çerçevesinde okunması, sürecin gerçek sebebinin ve Muhammed Bouazizi’nin niçin kendini yaktığının ya da Suriye’de ayaklanmaların niçin Dera’da başladığının asıl cevabına ulaşmamızı engeller. Yapılan bu temellendirme üzerine, çalışma uzun dönemli bir inceleme ile olayları anlamaya ve açıklamaya çalışacaktır. Arap Ayaklanmaları 2011’de başlayan anlık olaylar değildir. Kökleri ve geleceğe yansıyan sonuçları vardır. Mezhepsel-özcü sıkışmışlığın dar merceğinden uzaklaşarak Arap Ayaklanmaları sonrası Ortadoğu’da hala varlığını sürdüren sınıfsal hiyerarşiler ve dışlamaların anlatılması “Yeni Ortadoğu”ya miras kalan yapıları anlamayı sağlayacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Ortadoğu,Arap Ayaklanmaları,Politik ekonomi,Liberalleşme,Neoliberalizm,Finansal kriz

Kaynakça

1. Amar, Paul “Egypt”, In Dispatches from the Arab Spring: Understanding the New Middle East. edited by Paul Amar and Vijay Prashad. (Minneapolis London: University of Minnesota Press, 2013), pp. 24-62.
2. Bellin, Eva. “The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Exceptionalism in Comparative Perspective”. Comparative Politics, Vol: 36(2) (2004), pp. 139-157.
3. Brumberg, Daniel. “Authoritarian Legacies and Reform Strategies in the Arab World”. edited by Rex Brynen, Bahgat Korany, Paul Noble. In Political Liberalization, Democralization in the Arab World. (Boulder: Lynene Rienner Publishers, 1995), pp. 229-259.
4. Cleveland L. William and Martin Bunton. Modern Middle East. (Boulder: Westview Press, Fifth Edition, 2013).
5. Cole, Juan. “Egypt’s Modern Revolutions and the Fall of Mubarak”. edited by Fawaz Gerges. In The New Middle East. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), pp. 60-79.
6. Everything you need to know about Davos 2017, (last accessed 18 January 2017, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/01/everything-you-need-to-know-about-davos-2017).
7. Gobe, Eric. “The Gafsa Mining Basin between Riots and a Social Movement: Meaning and Significance of a Protest Movement in Ben Ali’s Tunisia”. HAL-SHS, 20 January 2011. (last accessed 29 January 2017, https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00557826/document).
8. Gelvin, James L. The Modern Middle East. (New York: Oxford University Press, Fourth Edition, 2016).

9. Gerges, Fawaz. “Introduction: A Rapture”, In The New Middle East. edited by Fawaz Gerges. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), pp. 1-38.
10. Gilpin, Robert. The Political Economy of International Relations. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1987).
11. Haddad, Bassam. “Syria, The Arab Uprisings, and The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience”, Journal For And About Social Movements, Vol: 4 (1) (2012), pp. 113-130.
12. Hanieh, Adam. Capitalism and Class in the Gulf Arab States. (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2011).
13. Hanieh, Adam. Lineages of Revolt. (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2013).
14. Hourani, Albert. A History of The Arab Peoples. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1991).
15. Huberman, Leo. Man’s Wordly Goods. (New York and London: Monthly Review Press, 1968).
16. Kadri, Ali. “A Depressive Pre-Arab Uprising Economic Performance”. In The New Middle East. edited by Fawaz Gerges. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), pp. 80-106.
17. Murden, Simon. “Political Economy from Modernization to Globalization”, edited by Youssef M. Choueiri, A Companion to The History of The Middle East, (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2005), 372-389.
18. Pappe, Ilan. The Modern Middle East. (London and New York: Routledge, 2005).
19. Richards Alan and John Waterbury and Melani Cammett and Ishac Diwan. A Political Economy of the Middle East. (Colorado: Westview Press, Updated 2013 Edition).
20. Shlaim, Avi. “Israel, Palestine, and Arab Uprising”, edited by Fawaz A. Gerges. The New Middle East: Protest and Revolution in the Arab World, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), pp. 80-106.
21. The Global Risks Report 2017, World Economic Forum, 11 January 2017, (last accessed 18 January 2017, https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2017).
22. Zurayk Rami and Anne Gough. “Bread and Olive Oil: The Agrarian Roots of the Arab Uprisings”. edited by Fawaz Gerges. In The New Middle East. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), pp. 107-131.