SOC343 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Young Tunisians, Arab Spring, Authoritarianism
17 Oct 2015
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Document Summary
How young tunisians went from arab spring to islamic state https://www. youtube. com/watch?v=v_oz2obliu0. Phrase harkens back to the european spring" of 1848. Widespread dissatisfaction with political leadership; demands for more participation in government and democracy; demands for freedom of press; demands of the working classes; Economic: the stagnation of the arab economies was the source of much frustration. Authoritarian governments often lack transparency and demonstrate little respect for principles such as the rule of law and civil rights. Detentions and arrests without due process were common torture, phony trials, disappearances, and police brutality . Weak legislatures with little authority, elections lacking legitimacy, tightly controlled media environments and restrictions on freedom of speech. Social media provided new avenues for debate outside state control. While not a direct cause of the uprisings, it was a necessary component of the uprising process. Without social media, groups in tunisia, egypt, yemen, bahrain, syria, and libya would have all struggled to spread information, gather, and unify quickly.
