Paperback : £21.93
Examines institutional and socio-cultural transformations throughout the Syrian conflict
Fills substantial gaps in the literature on Syria regarding state atrophy, covering both institutional and social-cultural formulations
Focuses on the five distinct and most consequential aspects of state atrophy during the Syrian conflict: state capture, proliferation and devolution of violence, ethno-religious subjectivities and sectarianisation, the expansion of the religious field and Civilian-led community protection efforts
Responds to the need for a synthesis of emergent scholarship as well as developments over the course of the conflict
Traces patterns of continuity and change in state-society relations before and throughout the conflict, and identifies their implications for the future of Syria
Based on primary sources and original data
How do governments contribute to galvanising public hostility against state institutions? And what are the consequences of undermining the state as a strategy for political change? State Atrophy in Syria highlights how the appropriation of state institutions by public officials limits public capacity to demand accountability from government without having to challenge the state or its institutions. This creates consequential trade-offs for the public. As the Syrian case demonstrates, the undermining of state institutions failed to depose the dictatorship, continuously benefitted Assad's foreign allies, Russia and Iran, and engendered unprecedented levels of predatory practices against the public.
As Syria continues to play a strategic role on the world's political stage, the book outlines the country's tragic decade and derives lessons for state-society relations in Syria and beyond.
Examines institutional and socio-cultural transformations throughout the Syrian conflict
Fills substantial gaps in the literature on Syria regarding state atrophy, covering both institutional and social-cultural formulations
Focuses on the five distinct and most consequential aspects of state atrophy during the Syrian conflict: state capture, proliferation and devolution of violence, ethno-religious subjectivities and sectarianisation, the expansion of the religious field and Civilian-led community protection efforts
Responds to the need for a synthesis of emergent scholarship as well as developments over the course of the conflict
Traces patterns of continuity and change in state-society relations before and throughout the conflict, and identifies their implications for the future of Syria
Based on primary sources and original data
How do governments contribute to galvanising public hostility against state institutions? And what are the consequences of undermining the state as a strategy for political change? State Atrophy in Syria highlights how the appropriation of state institutions by public officials limits public capacity to demand accountability from government without having to challenge the state or its institutions. This creates consequential trade-offs for the public. As the Syrian case demonstrates, the undermining of state institutions failed to depose the dictatorship, continuously benefitted Assad's foreign allies, Russia and Iran, and engendered unprecedented levels of predatory practices against the public.
As Syria continues to play a strategic role on the world's political stage, the book outlines the country's tragic decade and derives lessons for state-society relations in Syria and beyond.
Harout Akdedian is program analyst at the Oregon Department of Justice's Civil Rights Unit. He is a visiting scholar at Portland State University's Middle East Studies Centre, and associate fellow at the Central European University's Centre for Religious Studies. He holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of New England.
"It is gratifying to see how recent methodical reflections on contemporary Syria are bearing fruit, enriched by intensive research, and new analytical departures. Akdedian's granular analysis of state capture, sectarianism, the multiform devolution of state power and authority, of the salience of locality and the virtual effacement of the private/public distinction in many domains, shows these to be dynamic processes with agency, novelty and considerable complexity. Having read this book, it would no longer be conscionable to spin stories of primordialism, nor tropes of return to an authentic past." -Aziz Al-Azmeh, Central European University
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