Allying for Change: Social Movements and the Politics of Coalition Building in the Middle East

Abstract

Coalitions of actors that have traditionally not been allies but who are joining forces to reach a common goal have gained in number since the beginning of the years 2000 in North Africa and the Middle East. Bridging social, regional and ideological divides, they have developed in various social spaces such as anti-regime oppositions, anti-globalisation networks, and movements claiming economic rights, equal distribution of resources and social justice. Within such alliances, Islamists have allied with leftists, urban with rural protestors, lawyers with peasants, or workers with students. Such processes of networking have contributed to setting the basis for the broad-based uprisings that shook the region from 2010-2011. They are also a striking feature of contemporary social movements in other parts of the world. Yet, they have received relatively little empirical attention, particularly in authoritarian and constrained settings. Focusing on political developments in the Arab region, this panel explores the question of the role of coalitions in contentious politics. It will discuss how coalitions of actors and organizations with different repertoires, social capital and interests come into being; how these differences are bridged and a minimal degree of unity and coherence built, and finally what kind of tensions and power struggles emerge within such coalitions. The papers that constitute this panel are informed by empirically-based research, relying on historical, anthropological and sociological approaches.