Beyond the Discursive Binary: Roots and Prospects of the Syrian Uprising by Bassam Haddad

This lecture addresses the roots of the Syrian uprising as a way of understanding the realm of the possible in terms of proposed solutions and potential transition. Rather than engage in an unproductive blame-game, it addresses the real needs of the majority of Syrians and the extent to which existing alternatives are likely to satisfy them. Moreover, this talk intends to serve as a productive exit from the stale narrative binary that continues to adorn websites and publications on the situation in Syria: the narrative of pure revolution verses that of a conspiracy against Syria. Both narratives, far more complicated than what is presented in these short lines, have fundamental blindspots that forfeit various potentials for enduring cease-fires and potential transitions. Bassam Haddad is Director of the Middle East Studies Program and Associate Professor at the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs (SPGIA) at George Mason University. He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford University Press, 2011) and Co-Editor of Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old Order? (Pluto Press, 2012). Bassam serves as Founding Editor of the Arab Studies Journal a peer-reviewed research publication and is co-producer/director of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad, and director of a critically acclaimed film series on Arabs and Terrorism, based on extensive field research/interviews. Bassam is Co-Founder/Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine and the Executive Director of the Arab Studies Institute, an umbrella for five organizations dealing with knowledge production on the Middle East. He serves on the Board of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences and is Executive Producer of Status Audio Journal.