Víctor de Currea-Lugo | Winter, 2012
Following media, academic and public debates, it seems the Arab revolts have sometimes been reduced to mono-causal narratives. Several analysts have produced limited interpretations by simply creating parallels between the current revolts and previous uprisings or, worse, by looking for explanations that suit their own political agenda.
Another problem is a persistent black-and-white view, where different factions only recognize political actors that fit into their worldview. It is a difficult task to read the Arab revolts and even more difficult to characterize their nature.
Before we can understand these phenomena, we must first deconstruct several interpretations that only prevent us from recognize the originality of such revolts. This paper seeks to organize these tendencies, illustrating them with examples, ands in this way to contribute to the discussion of the root causes of the revolts.
- You may download the article for free, here: Questioning mono-causal perceptions of the Arab revolts
