The 2011 Arab uprisings unfolded differently across the region: Morocco was not Tunisia, which in turn is very different to Bahrain. Most of the existing literature on the uprisings looks in isolation at either the contentious politics of popular mobilisation or regime responses to them. Frédéric Vairel proposes a move away from this approach in order to understand the Moroccan case, instead considering both sides together by looking at the 20th February Movement and the regime’s response to it. He argues that by resorting to a number of short and long term reforms; toleration, repression and containment of street mobilisation, the regime was able to avoid producing ‘martyrs’, thereby containing potential backlash of the kind experienced elsewhere in the region.
Event Details
Speaker: Frédéric Vairel, University of Ottawa
Chair: Dr John Chalcraft, LSE
Date: Tuesday 19 May 2015
Time: 18.30-20.00
Location: Room 9.04, Tower 2, Clement's Inn, LSE
Event Hashtag: #LSEVairel
Attendance: This event is free and open to all on a first come first served basis. Our events are very well attended, please make sure to arrive early. We cannot guarantee entry.
Speaker
Frederic Vairel is Assistant Professor of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. His research interests include: authoritarian situations and popular uprisings in the Arab world, activist careers and contentious politics, and international circulation of models of reconciliation.