Affects in the Arab Uprisings

Abstract

The eruption of uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa in 2011 took the world by surprise. In its wake, scholars, practitioners and even those who lived the events have sought to explain the sudden and sweeping mobilization of popular protest against seemingly stable authoritarian regimes. Many of the emerging explanations focus on macro-level developments, such as citizens’ cumulated discontent with aging authoritarian leaders, economic grievances accentuated by neoliberal reforms, the demographic pressure of a young population with unmet aspirations and the availability of new technologies for spreading information and building opposition networks. Attention to such broad trends establishes an overall context conducive to popular mobilization, as well as organizational features that facilitate it. Yet these factors cannot alone explain what drives individuals to take the step of engaging in a challenge to authority, especially when risks remain significant and benefits highly uncertain.