New authoritarian practices in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

Why did the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011 fail? While the question continues to dominate contemporary scholarship on the Middle East and North Africa, comparatively less attention has been devoted to its corollary: understanding why and how authoritarianism has persisted. In this edited volume, 15 contributors catalogue, contextualize and compare the strategies that states across the region have deployed to suppress dissent and maintain power. The case-studies range from the hybrid systems of Jordan and Morocco to the Gulf's absolutist monarchies. What emerges is a chilling account of ‘everyday authoritarianism’. The book vividly describes its localized manifestations and situates regional practices within the global networks. The contributors also illustrate the reproductive processes of power, including digital surveillance and surveillance capitalism. The book contributes to a growing body of literature that elevates the study of the contemporary Middle East beyond exceptionalism, and places it within global understandings of state power and absolutism.