The Arab Spring | The Socjournal

A refreshing, thoughtful and historical reading of the dramatic changes sweeping the Arab world.’ Marwan Bishara, senior political analyst, Al Jazeera

For well over a year now, the dramatic, revolutionary unfolding of the ‘Arab Spring’ has dominated world events. What does The Arab Spring really mean? What has, and will it achieve?

No one is better place to examine these crucial questions than Hamid Dabashi. Acclaimed scholar, critic and cultural observer, Dabashi has an intimate knowledge of the region, its geopolitics, history and societies, and the interpretive power to see clearly into the face of the revolution.

By examining the causes, actions and outcomes of the Arab Spring in its many different locations, Dabashi predicts that the Arab Spring heralds no less than the end of postcolonialism. He sees the possibility of a new world order, a new international understanding, and a new social and cultural awareness – the true end to the oppressive colonial mindset which has weighed so unrelentingly over post-war international relations.

Dabashi believes that the power and force of the actions and vocabulary of those who have risen up as part of The Arab Spring are new. They are a calling card for change – real change, not just the replacement of one oppressive regime by another. More than that, they are a signifier of a new language of understanding, of expectation, of hope for the marginalised, ‘orientalised’ people of the world – a language of equality.

This, argues Dabashi, is what The Arab Spring will come to mean for us all.

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‘Dabashi provides a revolutionary, imaginative and open-ended reading of what will turn out to be a founding moment of the twenty-first century.’ Fawwaz Traboulsi, author of A History of Modern Lebanon

‘Embracing the poetic justice of the Arab Spring, Hamid Dabashi seizes upon and expresses the lyrical. He recounts philosophically an open-ended non-linear story, which is still in the making.’ Elia Suleiman, filmmaker

The Arab Spring by Hamid Dabashi is published by Zed Books, priced £12.99/$19.95, ISBN 9781780322230, available from 10th May 2012. For more information or to request a bound proof please contact Ruvani de Silva, Publicity Manager at Zed Books on 020 7837 8466 or [email protected] http://www.zedbooks.co.uk/paperback/

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