_The Uprising_ is an Autonomist manifesto for today's precarious times, and a rallying cry in the face of the catastrophic and irreversible crisis that neoliberalism and the financial sphere have established over the globe. In his newest book, Franco "Bifo" Berardi argues that the notion of economic recovery is complete mythology. The coming years will inevitably see new surges of protest and violence, but the old models of resistance no longer apply. Society can either stick with the prescriptions and "rescues" (...) that the economic and financial sectors have demanded at the expense of social happiness, culture, and the public good; or it can formulate an alternative. For Berardi, this alternative lies in understanding the current crisis as something more fundamental than an economic crisis: it is a crisis of the social imagination, and demands a new language by which to address it. This is a manifesto against the idea of growth, and against the concept of debt, the financial sector's two primary linguistic means of manipulating society. It is a call for exhaustion, and for resistance to the cult of energy on which today's economic free-floating market depends. To this end, Berardi introduces an unexpected linguistic political weapon--poetry: poetry as the insolvency of language, as the sensuous birth of meaning and desire, as that which cannot be reduced to information and exchanged like currency. If the protests now stirring about the world are to take shape and direction, then the revolution will be neither peaceful nor violent--it will be linguistic, or will not be at all. (shrink)

In this commentary, I explain how a student movement evolved from a social movement for quota reform into a political movement demanding regime change. I argue that the key factor enabling this transformation was its ability to unite various factions, which shifted public sentiment from addressing specific grievances to mounting a broader challenge to the regime.

This paper reflects on representations of the convergence of Islam and feminism in light of the recent uprising of Iranian women. Most of the existing literature discussing Muslim women’s rights are locked in a dichotomy of approaches, one being prejudicial and the other apologetic. The prejudicial approach is a (neo-)Orientalist one. It understands Muslim societies as backward and their redemption in abandoning Islam and following the lead of the “West.” The apologetic approach is a multiculturalist one, advocating most prominently (...) by academic feminists based in Europe and United States. In trying to reclaim agency for Muslim women, this approach denies real oppressions happening in Muslim societies, and as a result of Islamic practices. Inspired by Iranian women’s fight for freedom, this paper challenges the aforementioned dichotomy, and instead calls for a third approach that begins with, and responds to, the lived experiences of women living in Muslim societies. (shrink)

The 2024 uprising in Bangladesh marks a significant victory in the fight against authoritarianism, yet it remains an incomplete revolution. Its true success will hinge on whether it can pave the way for a new political order that reflects the hopes and aspirations of its participants. In this commentary, I draw on Arendt’s concept of natality to explore this pivotal moment, as it emphasizes the need for ongoing creativity, active engagement, and the creation of new possibilities. I argue that (...) Bangladesh’s future will be shaped by the movement’s ability to channel its momentum into building a lasting and visionary political landscape that embodies the collective will of its people. (shrink)

Does, or should, social uprising lead to new legal form? Ukraine’s current situation following the Revolution of Dignity in 2013–2014, with continuing violent conflict in Donbas and Crimea, suggests that not only is it unclear how a ‘new’ form is assessed, but existing transitional policies and frameworks are unlikely to be clearly implemented and enforced. An alternative analysis of transformation is necessary to address the conflicting aftermath of uprising within a particular historical and cultural context. The transformation that (...) is happening in Ukraine is a continuum that is intellectual and psychological as much as reforming judicial systems and governance. Thinking transformation differently opens onto narratives, complexity of causes and a plurality of ideas of future, resolutions and justice. Such a shift in thought and analysis, informed by narratives and grounded research, is necessary in order to try to understand the current pursuit of justice in Ukraine. (shrink)

Collective effervescence plays a foundational role in the generation of society. Both the canonical explication of this concept, Émile Durkheim’s Elementary Forms of Religious Life, and current literature on the topic, are unable to distinguish between two plausible causes of effervescence: shared affiliation or collective action. This study reports a case of collective effervescence in which much of the assembled group had no prior affiliation. This finding proves that shared affiliation is not a necessary condition for effervescence, and supplies evidence (...) for the hypothesis that collective action, not shared affiliation per se, is the source of effervescence in general. The evidence is a detailed ethnographic and in-depth interview study of the Wisconsin Uprising of 2011. (shrink)

Strategic nonviolent action has reasserted itself as a potent force in shaping public debate and forcing political change. Whether it is an explosive surge of protest calling for racial justice in the United States, a demand for democratic reform in Hong Kong or Mexico, a wave of uprisings against dictatorship in the Middle East, or a tent city on Wall Street that spreads throughout the country, when mass movements erupt onto our television screens, the media portrays them as being as (...) spontaneous and unpredictable. In This is an Uprising, political analysts Mark and Paul Engler uncover the organization and well-planned strategies behind such outbursts of protest, examining core principles that have been used to spark and guide moments of transformative unrest. This is an Uprising traces the evolution of civil resistance, providing new insights into the contributions of early experimenters such as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., groundbreaking theorists such as Gene Sharp and Frances Fox Piven, and contemporary practitioners who have toppled repressive regimes in countries such as South Africa, Serbia, and Egypt. Drawing from discussions with activists now working to defend human rights, challenge corporate corruption, and combat climate change, the Englers show how people with few resources and little influence in conventional politics can nevertheless engineer momentous upheavals. Although it continues to prove its importance in political life, the strategic use of nonviolent action is poorly understood. Nonviolence is usually studied as a philosophy or moral code, rather than as a method of political conflict, disruption, and escalation. This is an Uprising corrects this oversight. It argues that if we are always taken by surprise by dramatic outbreaks of revolt, and if we decline to incorporate them into our view of how societies progress, then we pass up the chance to fully grasp a critical phenomenon-and to harness its power to create lasting change. (shrink)

Sixty years that have passed since the Warsaw Uprising are meaningful on the life scale of human generations. The Uprising, planned for 2 or 3 days, lasted in fact for 63 days. That fact astounded the military experts and was even noticed by the German high command, which has to be mainly ascribed to the exceptional tension of patriotism of the soldiers and the population.The Germans suffered especially great losses on the average around 1,900 weekly, almost twice as (...) many as during the highest intensity of fighting in 1944/45. On our side the losses were estimated at 18,000 dead and about 6,500–7,000 wounded insurgents. However, the Warsaw Uprising and the whole nation counted around 150,000 dead among the civilians.During the two months of the uprising 25% of the pre-war buildings in Warsaw were destroyed, mainly due to the barbarian practice of burning the whole streets. Against the conditions of the capitulation agreement just signed, the majority of historical monuments were burned down.In Warsaw, the tradition of sacrifices and solidarity in action, bravery and the deep attachment to liberty, manifested in September 1939, was alive and brought results all the time of war through the acts of the patriotic resistance organizations. The leaders of the Warsaw Uprising belonged to the resistance fighters before World War I and during it. The battle for independence was their curriculum vitae, and the majority of the uprising participants, the youth, was educated in the independent Polish Republic, in respect for patriotic traditions of independence fights and insurrections.Jerzy Kirchmajer believes that the Warsaw Uprising was an error, as it did not suit the Soviets; Jan Ciechanowski from London—that it was against the plans of the British ally. It is said sometimes that the Uprising started without calculating the possibility of a helping hand.Faith played a major role during the Uprising. The clergy helped the community every way they could. (shrink)

이 글은 동학민중항쟁의 정치적 의미를 근대성의 관점에서 발견하고자 한 기존의 연구 경향을 비판하고, 그것을 민중의 비근대적 생활문화의 배경적 조건속에서 해명해 보고자 한다. 동학 민중이 항쟁기에 추진했던 정치 개입 및 평등과 부의 재분배는 근대 민주주의의 개념에 의존하는 것으로는 좀처럼 해명되지 않는 특징을 지니고 있다. 나는 이러한 특징이 비근대적 삶의 조건을 배경으로 하는 데에서 기인한다고 생각한다. 동학 민중은 유교 국가의 전통적 이념이었던 민본주의와 경자유전의 원칙을 민중의 관점에서 비판적으로 재전유하여 민주적 민본주의라는 독특한 정치적 지향을 형성했다. 민본주의와 민주주의는 정치 원리 상 서로 조화되기 어려운 (...) 단절적 계기를 지닌다. 그럼에도 불구하고 동학 민중은 두 정치 이념의 단절적 계기를 민중의 관점에서 절합(articulation)하여 민중 자치에 기초한 민본주의 유형으로서의 민주적 민본주의라는 혼종적 정치 지향을 형성하였다. 나는 이것의 정치적 의미를 해명하면서 동학민중항쟁이 근대화된 현대 한국에 있어 비판적 성찰의 단서를 제공한다는 것으로 이 글을 마무리 한다. (shrink)

Reflections call for dialogue. The various generations of Poles: the Bridge Generation (the author’s), the Fathers’ Generation and the Generation of Columbuses all differ on the logic of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising 1944. This issue is taboo in Polish history while the participants of the Uprising remain alive because they defend the rightness of their actions, regardless of rationality. The War’s facts on the ground were such that the Allies and Resistance had no chance to beat (...) the Axis. Many view the 1944 Uprising as the most tragic event in Poland’s history. The author bases his opinion on his childhood experience in 1944 Warsaw and discussions on behalf of all victims with the advocates of this Uprising. At the end of this dialogue, examples are provided of past political and military mistakes throughout Polish history that must serve as warnings to future generations of Poles. The study has a universal character, as the Polish experience is not so unique that it cannot be applied to other geopolitical realities where subjectivism dominates objectivism, ignorance prevails over wisdom, and tragedy overcomes happiness. (shrink)

Historians estimate that between 10 and 15 thousand Jews were hiding out in Warsaw before the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising. One of the aid organizations, the Jewish National Committee received a larger amount of money in late July but managed to distribute only some of it. Then rest went for various forms of aid during the fighting and after the uprising fall—for those who survived. The Varsovians’ attitude towards the Jews varied. The civilian authorities tried to help (...) all who found themselves in extreme conditions, Poles and Jews. Many Jews bravely fought in many battles in the city along with their Polish compatriots and their fate is presented in the article. (shrink)

This paper is a fragment of the book “Kaja od Radosława, czyli historia Hubalowego Krzyża”, which was published by Warszawskie Wydawnictwo Literackie Muza in 2006. It will be published by the American publisher The Military History Press under the title “Kaia Savior of the Hubal Cross”. Covering a century of Polish history, it is full of tragic and compelling events. Such historic events as Polish life in Siberia, Warsaw before the war, the German occupation, the Warsaw Uprising, life in (...) Ostaszków, and the rebuilding of Warsaw are included.The hero Kaia is a woman, christened Cesaria, whose father was expelled to Siberia in 1905 for conspiring against the tsar. Kaia spent her early childhood there, and the family lived near the mountain Altaj. A chapter shows how the Polish community lived there, organized their daily lives, etc. In 1922, the family returned to free Poland, the train trip back taking almost a year. This ordeal is highlighted as a series of stops sometimes lasting for weeks because of heavy snow accumulation, the men shoveling a pathway for the train to pass through, many deaths occurring from the frigid cold with the “caboose” used as a mortuary for Poles to be returned to their homeland for burial. Kaia entered the school system, was eventually educated as an architect, and then World War II started. She lived under the German occupation for the first few years, and later became a conspirator by helping the underground movement. She joined the Armia Krajowa in 1942. At considerable risk, her apartment became a meeting place for the conspirators.After Hubal’s death, one of his couriers gave Kaia the Hubal Cross Virtuti Militari. The cross was with her for the ensuing 50 years. During the Warsaw Uprising, in which she was a courier, she carried the cross around her neck. Many times, she had to travel via the Warsaw underground sewer system. Twice, she was wounded. After the Warsaw Uprising collapsed, she went to the east territory to look for her mother. She was captured by the Russian NKVD in Białystok and sent to Ostaszków. An interesting scene describes one of many interrogations: the Russian interrogator asks if she knows about the cross. Her reply causes a puzzled look on his face. The cross was never discovered (she had hidden it in a specially made shoe). Protection of the Virtuti Militari Cross, which at first had been a challenge to Kaia to survive the Uprising and Russian imprisonment, later became a symbol of courage and determination of the Polish people. In 1946, Kaia returned to Poland very ill and weighing only 38 kg (83.6 pounds). Eventually recovering her health, she worked as an architect involved in the rebuilding of Warsaw totally decimated by the Germans.In the Warsaw Uprising chapter, Kaia’s diary is included, and the book relates the scenes and events that she described. One such experience is most moving. It was a quiet moment, i.e. the shooting had subsided. On a warm beautiful August night, she was sitting, enjoying the quiet alone when, a young man sat down next to her. He was a colleague from architectural school. Together, a few months earlier, they had attended a university ball, and Kaia remembered him as always being funny and amusing. Then, she noticed he was missing one eye and part of his chin. He returned her gaze and jokingly said, “I still have one eye left”. And then, he quietly sang a popular song that they had danced the waltz to… “Not to be in love on such a beautiful night is a sin”… Kaia had to be in the same mood as he was and smiled. A few days later, half of his body was covered in ruins…he could not be helped. His death lasted several days, and he is buried in Powązki Cemetery, like many soldiers of the Uprising. (shrink)

This paper investigates the concepts of hope, despair and the radical imagination, driven by the following questions: Can we exist beyond the binaries of hope and despair, two key concepts that drive educational practices? What is the radical imagination and what are the conditions for it to be put to work in educational spaces? First, education is explored as a hyperobject that is owned, imagined and practiced collectively. The semiotic square is introduced as a heuristic tool to illustrate the limitations (...) of the binary opposition between hope and despair, and allows for an exploration of what is possible when these binaries are being set aside. The radical imagination then, is described as a collective practice that is radical in the sense that alternative social forms can always be imagined once we acknowledge that every social form is the result of the collective imagination. Finally, the paper explores conceptual as well as practical ideas that underpin Education for Uprising which is understood as the emergence of micro-political, autonomous spaces of direct action where community, solidarity and self-organization are key principles. Education for Uprising allows us to radically reimagine how we view education and to actively engage in alternative world-making. (shrink)

The author, during the Warsaw Uprising a commanding officer in the Home Army’s “Radosław” unit, recounts the first days of the fighting and subsequent battles, including the seizing of “Gęsiówka” and a landing by General Berling’s troops. Ścibor-Rylski also underscores the solidarity between Poles fighting their occupants, a solidarity inspired by a love of freedom.

The author recounts his part in the Warsaw Uprising through the prism of general human concepts like brotherhood, death, faith, freedom, memory, etc. in an attempt to show what such ideals meant for his comrades in battle and himself, how they functioned in later years—and how they influenced his generation's world outlook and life. For Strzelecki the Warsaw Uprising stood in defense of supreme human values, was a necessity without which there would have been no hope of survival (...) either for human values or the Polish nation. (shrink)

This article analyzes the interpretation proposed by Michel Foucault of the Iranian Revolution, i.e. the popular uprisings and revolts that took place in Iran in 1978 and their consequences in the formation of the Islamic Republic in 1979, with the aim of systematizing the thought of the philosopher about this question and of going further in a highly potent matrix in his production which unfortunately has been partly eclipsed by the shallow and hasty criticisms it received. For this purpose, I (...) will proceed to the exam of the problematic cores and the conceptual categories arising from what can be called Foucault’s dossier Iran accounting for the relationship between the subject, politics and history. Likewise, I will highlight the main axes of that interpretation following the link with the researches and central lines that Foucault is developing at that moment, in particular, the relationship he establishes between life, government and truth and the reformulation of the problem of power in terms of the problem of government which will enable him to deploy that aspect of his analyses of power and politics relating to resistance, freedom and the critique of the present. Finally, I will propose an assessment in perspective, underlining the scope and the potentialities of the Foucauldian ideas about these events. (shrink)

필자는 본 논문을 통해 서구 형이상학이 제시하는 몸의 위상을 분석한 뒤 새로운 몸 개념을 통해 기존의 몸의 도식의 전복 가능성을 고찰해 보고자 한다. 데카르트에 의해 수립된 몸의 도식은 몸-자동기계(body-mecanic)와 의식조정-자동기계라는 이중의 층위로 분절화되어 있는데 우리는 논증을 통해 이것을 비판적으로 분석하도록 할 것이다. 기존의 몸 도식이 ‘메카닉(mecanic)’이라는 정합적이고 기능주의적인 유기체 논리에서 벗어나지 못하고 있다는 점에 주목하여, 필자는 들뢰즈와 가따리의 “기관 없는 신체(Corps sans organes)” 개념의 프리즘을 통해 “장기-몸(intestins-corps)”이라는 새로운 몸 개념을 제시하고자 한다. 장기-몸(intestins-corps)은 일련의 정합적이고 유기체적인 질서로부터 적출되어 나와 카오스적인 에너지로 (...) 들끓으며 이질적 요소들과의 무한연접으로 열려있는, 새로운 차원의 몸이다. 이러한 장기-몸의 봉기를 가장 잘 나타내주는 사태는 다름 아닌 극한고통이 도래하는 출산이라고 본다. 필자는 출산이 어떤 의미에서 ‘장기-몸’이 실질적으로 가동되는 상태인지를 지젝의 논의의 분석을 통해 심도 있게 고찰할 것이다. 또한 출산을 거친 자들이 상징질서로 편입되지 않고 금기를 깨고 되돌아오는, 살아있는 망자(the living dead)임을 지젝의 논의로부터 분석해 보겠다. 이로서 출산과 같은 극한고통의 체험이 갖는 카오스적 파괴의 힘이 어떤 측면에서 상징적 질서에 균열을 가할 수 있는지도 발터 벤야민의 ‘신적 폭력’ 개념을 착안해 고찰할 것이다. (shrink)

The privileged often regard these struggles as an assault on their rights, violent outbursts instigated by evil forces bent on our destruction: world Communism, or crazed terrorists and fanatics. The struggle for freedom seems inexplicable in other terms. After all, living standards are higher in Soweto than they were in the Stone Age, or even elsewhere in Black Africa. And the people in the West Bank and Gaza who survive by doing Israel 's dirty work are improving their lot by (...) standard economic measures. Slave owners offered similar arguments. (shrink)

This volume examines whether the Arab Uprisings introduce a replica of the European Enlightenment or rather stimulate an Arab/Islamic Awakening with its own cultural specificity and political philosophy. By placing Immanuel Kant in Tahrir Square, Cairo, this book adopts a comparative analysis of two enlightenment projects: one Arab, still under construction, with possible progression toward modernity or regression toward neo-authoritarianism, and one European, shaped by the past two centuries.

The events that followed the revolution of 25 January 2011 demonstrated the tenacity and resilience of gendered dissent and its centrality to collective action and civil disobedience, thus enriching the transnational feminist archive with the experiences and praxis of gendered revolutionary action. Paying particular attention to women’s activism during the uprisings in Egypt, this article focuses on the broader themes of gendered political resistance and the intersections of gender ideology, state policing, Islamism and militarism with protest and collective action. The (...) aim is to take count of the challenges and gains of gendered resistance and women’s political participation during times of political upheaval. (shrink)

The author reflects on the Warsaw Uprising and its effects on his contemporaries and subsequent generations. The Uprising has evoked conflicting emotions, the hottest debates whether it was justified in light of the ensuing losses and the destruction of Warsaw. A frequently-asked question is whether it was worth sacrificing so many people for an obviously lost cause.The Warsaw Uprising also functions as a national legend of selflessness, sacrifice, solidarity, and courage, its protagonists displaying uncommon determination and perseverence (...) in their struggle to free their country. A legend which successive generations of Poles have kept alive despite the years that have elapsed. (shrink)

Thus far, recent protests in the Arab world have led to different political outcomes including regime change, civil war, and suppression by regime. The present paper explores the reasons behind these different outcomes. The research methodology is a comparative case study approach, and five countries of Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, and Syria are examined. The hypothesis is that the different political outcomes of the protests are due to a combination of factors, including the level of mobilization of anti-regime movements, the (...) responses of national militaries, and finally the reaction of international powers. Different configurations of these components in the crisis-stricken countries have led to different political outcomes. (shrink)

In memory of Alina Margolis-Edelman ABSTRACT The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is the symbol of the heroism of the Jews during the Holocaust. For decades after the war it has been central for commemorating the Jewish victims. The symbolic meaning of the Uprising has led in the past sixty years to a wide and lively discussion about the meaning of the symbol, for it has often been used to support or justify different political or moral arguments. This article argues (...) against the transformation of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into a heroic epic, and offers an alternative approach to its interpretation. (shrink)

Georges Didi-Huberman, Uprisings (Paris: Gallimard, 2016), 232 pp, ISBN 9782072697296 Georges Didi-Huberman's Uprisings is at once heavy and light. It weaves complex (and sometimes burdensome) political traditions and histories of thought concerned with uprising, rebellion and revolution, with bursts of poetry which, it seems, are meant to take flight off the page like the butterfly tracts that Didi-Huberman so admires. It is also vast in its scale and depth, tracing histories of uprising and rebellion from Atlas, Prometheus and (...) Eve, through to future uprisings which are as yet unknown and, as the author reminds us, endless: 'the uprising is a gesture without end' (p. 17). (shrink)

The author looks for ideological reasons for which the Poles joined the military organizations. On the basis of his own experience, he attempts to establish a relation between the political attitudes of the Poles and their decision to join respective military units that fought during the war. He states that in many cases the main factor in the decision to defend the country was the heart and not the reason. Political preferences of the young and politically inexperienced soldiers were of (...) little importance in the process of deciding under which banner to fight. (shrink)

IntroductionA literature review can be defined as locating, gathering, highlightingand summarizing the previous studies that most strongly relate toresearch topic. It helps a researcher to determine whether a researchtopic or subject is worth studying and it also provides insight into waysin which a researcher can limit the scope to a required area or subject ofinquiry. This article will scrutinize earlier studieson the influence and impact of the Arab uprisings – beyond the affectedstates in the region of Middle East and North (...) Africa. (shrink)

In 1944, American Polonia consisted of two separate social groups. The first one was the so-called “old Polonia”. This group was significantly assimilated into America’s culture and way of life, and had strong self-help organizations. The second group, “new Polonia”, was formed of wartime émigrés, mainly with intellectual backgrounds. They experienced at first hand the anti-human policies of the Nazi and Soviet systems.In the Polish American Congress, founded in 1944 by representatives of both groups, there was great concern about the (...) policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The fear was that these policies would allow Stalin, by a method of fait accompli, to introduce the Soviet system in all countries “liberated” by the Red Army. Old Polonia was under the influence of the US Administration and, despite reservations, supported the approach of Polish Prime Minister Stanisław Mikołajczyk who was committed to finding a Polish-Soviet compromise. Such a compromise turned out to be impossible because of Stalin’s demands. Firstly, nearly 50% of the pre-war territory of Poland was to be ceded to the Soviet Union. Secondly, fundamental changes were to be made in the government leadership of the Polish satellite state.New Polonia, which in 1942 formed the National Committee of Americans of Polish Descent, had a strong intellectual group. They warned the Polish American Congress and the US Administration against conceding to Stalin’s demands. From the perspective of the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, their evaluation of Stalin’s policy has turned out to be correct.There was also a small group of Polish American activists centered around Professor Oskar Lange and the eminent poet Julian Tuwim, who belonged to the so-called Kościuszko League. During the Warsaw Uprising they were willing to accept Stalin’s demands and in connection with this supported the policies of the Polish Committee for National Liberation (a pro-communist coalition).The overwhelming majority of American Polonia was involved in unmasking false information about the Warsaw Uprising in the American press. They signed petitions to the President and Secretary of State. They collected money. They organized religious and patriotic meetings at which true information about the Warsaw Uprising was presented. (shrink)

For Polish Jews, Warsaw was an important center of social and cultural life. It was the biggest center of Jewish community and culture in Europe. It was also here that the greatest tragedy of this community took place, made still more dramatic by the transports of the Jews from various European and Polish cities. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising reminds us of the egoism of the societies of the Allied powers. Similarly the lonely fight of the heroes of the Warsaw (...) ghetto reminds us of the lonely fight of the insurgents of Warsaw in 1944. Both uprisings involved the whole society. They differed only in the scale of military operations conducted and in their duration.Polish Jews, as well as the Jews from other countries, observed with deep interest the course of insurgent fights, in which a small number of Warsaw Jews saved from extermination and Jews from many European countries, liberated by the insurgents, took part. The feeling of community of fate of the Polish and Jewish nations was a phenomenon of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944; it was a harmony that was never achieved again. Jews, citizens of different countries and members of different organizations loudly demanded help for the heroic but forlorn insurgents. (shrink)

In 2011, the people of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and later Syria struggled to overthrow their despotic regimes and bring about radical political change. However, to date, little discussion has revolved around the role of long-standing assumptions about political change and human rights in the Arab world in prolonging the lifespan of these collapsing regimes. The first of these assumptions claimed that authoritarian rulers were the guarantors of stability in nations throughout the region. Second was the assumption that Islamists (...) were the sole alternative to authoritarian regimes in the region. These uprisings also proved false the theory that democracy and civil and political rights were not priorities for peoples of the Arab world. Finally, the fourth assumption to be debunked is the claim that the people of the region are not ready for a democratic system that respects human rights because the religion of the majority—Islam—is incompatible with democratic values and human rights. (shrink)