Houses Built on Sand: Violence, Sectarianism and Revolution in the Middle East

Description

The events of the Arab Uprisings posed an existential challenge to sovereign power across the Middle East. Whilst popular movements resulted in the toppling of authoritarian rule in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen, other regimes were able to withstand these pressures. This book questions why some regimes fell whilst others were able to survive. Drawing on the work of political theorists such as Agamben and Arendt, Mabon explores the ways in which sovereign power is contested, resulting in the fragmentation of political projects across the region. Combining an innovative theoretical approach with interviews with people across the region and beyond, Mabon paints a picture of Middle Eastern politics dominated by elites seeking to maintain power and wealth, seemingly at whatever cost. This, for Mabon, is a consequence of the emergence and development of particular visions of political projects that harness or marginalise identities, communities, ideologies and faiths as mechanisms designed to ensure their survival. This book is essential reading for those interested in understanding why the uprisings took place, their geopolitical consequences, and why they are likely to happen again. -- .

Simon Mabon is Professor of International Politics at Lancaster University where he directs the Richardson Institute. He is also Director of SEPAD. -- .

'A theoretically-informed and empirically-rich exploration of the impacts of the contestation of sovereign power on states, societies, identities and the regulation of time and space. A creative intellectual tour de force, one rarely encountered in studies of the contemporary Middle East' Bassel Salloukh, Lebanese American University 'Situated at the nexus between political theory and Middle East Studies, Houses Built on Sand investigates the claims and mechanisms through which life is regulated in the Middle East. The theme of sovereignty and its relationship to political power is the anchor for this rigorously researched book that breaks new intellectual ground. An important and timely contribution, especially for those interested in a philosophical understanding of the turbulence and protest that continues to rock the Arab-Islamic world.' Nader Hashemi, University of Denver, USA 'The politics of sectarian difference in the Middle East have been cast in many ways, but never with such rigor and heart as Houses Built on Sand. By examining sovereign power and its fragmentation, Mabon has constructed a comparative framework that is elastic enough to contain the myriad of local and national experiences with sectarian 'othering.' At the same time, the book connects developments across the region using cutting edge political theory to explain recent and devastating contestations between rulers and ruled, including the notion of the abandonment of the ruled by the rulers through such mechanisms as the formation of internal enemies along sect-differences. Meanwhile, displaced individuals find meaning and purpose in transnational communal networks, ramping up the potential for instability and violence, as well as rebirth and change. In this dynamic and important work, Mabon uncovers the role of agency in the forms and behavior taken by sovereign power. He shows us sovereignty's fundamental fragility in the wake of mass-mobilized frustration, and he helps us to reimagine a normative space in the Middle East where people's safety and security might someday come before grandiose political projects.' Staci Strobl, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, USA 'At a moment in which political orders in the Middle East are under exceptional strain Mabon explores the effects of fragmented sovereignties on the political trajectories of states, societies, and communities in the Middle East. His account of the many ways in which competing claims to sovereignty, legitimacy, and authenticity manifest themselves across multiple political and social registers, often at great human cost, is eloquent, theoretically rich, and marvelously ambitious. Sweeping in its historical and geographic scope, Mabon's work is acute and urgent in calling our attention to the conditions that sustain violence, exclusion, and conflict in today's Arab world.' Professor Steven Heydemann, Smith College, USA 'In this outstanding, elegantly written first volume in the Manchester University Press "Identities and Geopolitics in the Middle East" series, Mabon (Lancaster Univ., UK) focuses on the legalistic concept of sovereignty and the forces that undermine it, with existing states challenged by the Islamic concept of one ummah (community), the more secular ideology of pan-Arabism, and ethnic separatist movements as well as sectarianism fomented as a Machiavellian strategy. The study is informed by a wide range of political theorists and employs Greek terminology, such as nomos (law), which some readers likely will dismiss as unnecessary pedantry. However, the author demonstrates a vast amount of knowledge based on published material in diverse languages and on extensive travel and interaction with a variety of people in the region. He deftly analyzes the Arab Spring and its degeneration into renewed despotism, sectarian conflict, and anarchy but suggests that regimes built on shaky foundations may face renewed popular challenges in the future. This book is essential reading for advanced students of the contemporary Middle East and for those concerned more broadly with nation building and nation decay.' --G. E. Perry, emeritus, Indiana State University, CHOICE -- .