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Religious Fundamentalisms in the City: Reflections on the Arab Spring

2012; Columbia University; Volume: 65; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

0022-197X

Nezar Al Sayyad, Mejgan Massoumi,

Religion, Society, and Development

Around world, we are witnessing new forms of organization, grassroots mobilization, activism and popular uprisings, all seeking democratic change and social justice. These events evoke both optimism and pessimism about our abilities to predict future of cities in today's Global South. Confronted by a growing landscape of poverty, rising inequality in global economy and acute socio-spatial polarization, we must ask what accounts for these new patterns. Does reasoning apply equally to cities worldwide or does it exist only within context of specific urban geographies? Perhaps most recent and dramatic transformation within global urban landscape is Arab Spring. As people in various parts of Arab world embark on their quest for self-governance, there is no telling where this great experiment will lead. Based on current indications, religion will play a decisive role in shaping futures of these nations, and particularly their cities. Our aim in this article is to explore urban processes by which religious movements transform into fundamentalist ones, and how that process may reshape cities. No one could have imagined that when Mohamed Bouazizi set himself ablaze, humiliated by constant harassment from Tunisian police for selling goods without a permit, it would spark a revolution overthrowing Tunisia's President Ben Ali in a matter of weeks. No one, not even regional experts, could have predicted that uprising in Tunisia would spread to Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain and Syria in a span of three months. As of March 2012, governments have been overthrown in four countries. Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia in January 2011 following protests in Sidi Bouzid and across country. In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak resigned that February after eighteen days of massive protests in Tahrir Square, ending his thirty years of unchallenged rule since assassination of Anwar el-Sadat. The Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi was overthrown in August 2011 and killed in October after forces of National Transitional Council took control of his hometown of Sirte. Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh transferred power to his deputy in February 2012 after an uncontested election. (1) The largest, most organized demonstrations within movement often occurred on what many Arabs have called a Day of Rage, typically held on Fridays after noon prayers. The will of protesters was marked by incredible resilience and determination, inspiring demonstrators not only in Middle East, but around world. Cities like Alexandria, Sana'a, Cairo, Benghazi and Tripoli played decisive roles in these events. Indeed, it is appropriate to describe Arab uprisings as urban revolutions. The following question remains: What kinds of cities will emerge as a result of these political changes? The Arab Spring has given rise to a unique form of religious polity that has carved Arab city into different orders of citizenship. Throughout this article we will explore urban processes by which religious movements transform into fundamentalist ones, employing tactics of control that reshape life and form of cities. We begin with a discussion of how Arab Spring has inaugurated religious regimes of urban rule and urban regimes of religious rule, reinforcing preexisting relationship between religion and urbanism. (2) We then discuss traditional, long-standing relationship between religion and urbanism and how modernity disrupts this. We also examine territorial character of fundamentalism as well as larger discourse on city, citizenship and religiosity. We conclude with definitions of the fundamentalist city. CITIES AND THE ARAB SPRING The protest movements of Arab Spring appeared to be largely secular in nature. In Tunisia and Egypt, Islamist groups joined at later stages. Once new electoral procedures were established, however, Islamist parties benefited most, winning many of elections that followed popular uprisings in region. …