Sectarianism and conflict in Syria
2015; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 36; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/01436597.2015.1015788
ISSN1360-2241
Autores Tópico(s)Middle East Politics and Society
ResumoAbstractThis article challenges the sectarian narrative of Syria's current civil war, which relies on several false assumptions about the nature of political identity. It first questions how sectarian the uprising and civil war actually are, suggesting that the conflict is 'semi-sectarian', given the multiple other fault lines of contention, notably class, ideology and other non-sect, sub-state ties. It then draws on the theoretical debates between primordialists, ethno-symbolists and modernists to historicise political identity development in Syria. In doing so, it reasserts the modernist case, emphasising how political identities in Syria, both national and sectarian, have developed in a complex interrelated manner in the modern era and how the recent violent mobilisation of sectarian identity is the result of long- and short-term structural, economic, socio-cultural and political factors rather than unchanging ancient animosities. Of these, the most vital remain structural changes and elite reactions to them, with the prospect of state collapse in Syria's future the most likely cause of a descent into further sectarian chaos.Keywords: sectarianismSyriaidentitycivil warnationalism AcknowledgementsThe author would like to thank Raymond Hinnebusch, Kevin Mazur and the anonymous reviewers at Third World Quarterly for reviewing earlier drafts and offering very constructive feedback, as well as the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary, University of London for funding some of the field research used in this article.Notes1. Rabinovich, The End of Sykes-Picot?2. Laborie Iglesias, "Syria," 57–94.3. See for example, Rosiny, "Power Sharing"; O'Hanlon and Joseph, Bosnia; and Landis, "The Great Sorting Out."4. Haddad, Sectarianism, 37.5. Wolff, Ethnic Conflict, 1–8.6. The regime had reported over 500 combats deaths by August 2011, while the rebel side reached 500 self-defined combatant deaths in January 2012. It is unclear how many of the regime fatalities were killed by the regime for refusing orders, as has been alleged, but this is useful as a rough guide for when combat deaths hit 1000. See "Latest Regime Fatalities," Violations Documentation Center in Syria. Accessed December 14, 2014. http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/en/. Despite being an opposition site, this is the most accurate accumulator of data on verified regime and opposition deaths. For definitions of civil war, see Sambanis 2004.7. Haddad, Sectarianism, 31.8. Ismail, "The Syrian Uprising."9. ICG, Lebanon's Hizbollah.10. Haddad, Sectarianism, 31–38.11. Blanford, "Syrian Refugees."12. Fisk, "We will never Cease."13. Verifying these alleged massacres is difficult, given limited access and accusations of journalistic bias. For the purpose of this article the salient point is that different constituencies in Syria perceived them to be true.14. Multiple interviews between the author and Syrian refugees in northern Jordan, July 2012.15. Tabler, In the Lion's Den, 233.16. Ismail, "The Syrian Uprising."17. Starr, Revolt in Syria, 120.18. Chatty, "Syria's Bedouin."19. Interview with anti-regime Syrian businessmen, London, May 18, 2012.20. "Statistics for the Number of Martyrs," Violations Documentation Center in Syria. See note 6 on potential bias.21. Khaddour and Mazur, "The Struggle for Syria's Regions."22. Halliday, Nation and Religion; and Dodge, Inventing Iraq.23. Geertz, "The Integrative Revolution," 105–157; Esman, Ethnic Politics, 1–25; and Galbraith, "How to get out of Iraq."24. Haddad, Sectarianism, 17–20.25. Zubaida, "Sectarian Dimensions."26. Dodge, Iraq, 33–40.27. Matthiesen, Sectarian Gulf; and Wehrey, Sectarian Politics.28. Abdo, The New Sectarianism, 2.29. Droz-Vincent, "State of Barbary," 40.30. Kaufman, Modern Hatreds, 3–12.31. White, The Emergence of Minorities, 1.32. Batatu, Syria's Peasantry, 17.33. Masters, Christians and Jews, 8.34. Batatu, Syria's Peasantry, 12.35. Gelvin, Divided Loyalties, 51–86.36. Neep, Occupying Syria, 20–39.37. White, The Emergence of Minorities, 12, 44.38. A fifth province, the Sanjak of Alexandretta was transferred to Turkish rule in 1938.39. The four statelets were temporarily united in 1936–39. White, The Emergence of Minorities, 11, 56.40. Van Dam, The Struggle for Power, 29.41. Ibid., 15.42. Haddad, "The Syrian Regime's Business Backbone."43. Lefèvre, Ashes of Hama, 70; and Visser, "The Western Imposition," 84–85.44. Van Dam, The Struggle for Power, 97.45. Ma'oz, Assad, 193; and Weeden, Ambiguities of Domination, 1.46. Phillips, Everyday Arab Identity, 40–48.47. Anderson, "The Syrian Law."48. Yildiz, The Kurds in Syria, 91–93.49. Landis, "Islamic Education."50. Khatib, Islamic Revivalism.51. Lefèvre, Ashes of Hama, 63.52. Saleh, The Syrian Shabiha.53. Van Dam, The Struggle for Power, 93–106.54. Seale, Assad, 337.55. Hinnebusch, "Syria."56. Ibid.; and Azmeh, The Uprising.57. Ismail, "Changing Social Structure."58. Azmeh, The Uprising.59. De Châtel, "The Role of Drought."60. Interview with Malik al-Abdeh, editor of al-Barada TV (opposition television channel), London, February 10, 2012.61. Ibid.; and Azmeh, The Uprising.62. Hinnebusch, "Syria."63. de Elvira and Zintl, "The End of the Ba'thist Social Contract."64. Hinnebusch, "Syria."65. de Elvira and Zintl, "The End of the Ba'thist Social Contract."66. Phillips, Everyday Arab Identity, 62.67. Pierret, "Sunni Clergy Politics."68. Dodge, Iraq, 33–40.69. Droz-Vincent, "State of Barbary," 41.70. Lowe, "The Serhildan."71. Valbjørn and Bank, "The New Arab Cold War."72. Elad-Altman, "The Sunni–Shia Conversion Controversy."73. Paasche, "Iraqi Refugees"; and Phillips, Everyday Arab Identity, 131–160.74. In 2008 the three most popular leaders among 4000 Arabs polled from Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon and Jordan were Hassan Nasrallah (20%), Bashar al-Assad (16%) and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad (10%). Telhami, "2008 Arab Public Opinion Poll."75. Lesch, Syria, 211.76. Berti and Paris, "Beyond Sectarianism."77. Abouzeid, "The Jihad Next Door."78. al-Tamimi, "The Druze Militias"; and al-Tamimi, "A Case Study."79. Rifai, "The War of Identities."80. Saleh, The Syrian Shabiha.81. Phillips, "Intervention."82. Black, "Syria Crisis."83. Dickinson, "Follow the Money."84. As reported in "Syria Conflict."85. Wehrey, "Saudi Arabia."86. Visser, "The Western Imposition."87. "Syria's Christians."88. Marsh and Burgess, "A Sectarian Patchwork."89. Williams, "Back to the Future."
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