'The people want(s) to bring down the regime': (positive) nationalism as the Arab Spring's revolution

When and what is the nation, and nationalism, and when have both emerged in the Arab world? I suggest new ways of approaching these questions, and new answers. Revisiting the ‘dating debate’, I propose distinguishing between negative nationalism (rejecting foreign rule) and positive nationalism (hol...

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Published in:Nations and nationalism 2015-10, Vol.21 (4), p.658-680
Main Author: Abulof, Uriel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arab people
Arab Spring
legitimacy
Nationalism
peoplehood
Politics
popular sovereignty
positive nationalism
revolution
Revolutions
self-determination
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description When and what is the nation, and nationalism, and when have both emerged in the Arab world? I suggest new ways of approaching these questions, and new answers. Revisiting the ‘dating debate’, I propose distinguishing between negative nationalism (rejecting foreign rule) and positive nationalism (holding ‘the people’ as the source of legitimacy), the latter distinctively modern, the former not. Empirically, I examine these theoretical propositions in light of the Arab Spring's dual revolution, vividly captured by its popular slogan: ‘The people want(s) to bring down the regime’. I submit that the manifest revolution of toppling regimes pales in comparison with the ideational revolution of engendering positive nationalism. While the former revolution has been a huge surprise, the history of the Arab world abounds in precedents; conversely, Arab societies' subscription to ‘the people’ as the prime political legitimator – asserting their own inalienable political right to tell right from wrong – is novel. In that sense (positive) nationalism is the revolution of the Arab Spring, challenging both authorities and polities.
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source International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS); Wiley-Blackwell Read & Publish Collection; Worldwide Political Science Abstracts; Sociological Abstracts
subjects Arab people
Arab Spring
legitimacy
Nationalism
peoplehood
Politics
popular sovereignty
positive nationalism
revolution
Revolutions
self-determination
title 'The people want(s) to bring down the regime': (positive) nationalism as the Arab Spring's revolution
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