Findings dispute 'guns versus butter' narrative as a major factor behind the Arab Spring. Researchers caution against uncritically applying lessons from Western nations to interpret public policy decisions in the Middle East.
We can but hope, argue sociologist Dr Jeff Miley and Gates Scholar Johanna Riha, who here summarise some of their observations following a recent field visit to Rojava in northern Syria, and give a brief overview of the political and social ideologies underpinning the Kurdish revolution.
Research on Egypt is looking at how to read revolution and grass roots opposition through social media.
Students ripped up their university exam papers in protest against established authority and in rejection of formal qualifications; a progressive sociologist assigned his students the storming of a public office as field-work; avant-garde writers, street theatre and poets moulded a bohemian sub-culture was dramatically reshaping university life.
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