Arab Revolutions: the Cultural Background

Arab Revolutions are the result of a long process of cultural growth: the need to address world economic crisis made evident the clash between expectations and the inadequacy of the political elite. Looking back over the historical crises in the Arab world we recognize similar patterns. The Arab awakening has, since its early days, shown the presence of few common elements: education and military reforms, spread of new ideas, demographic growth and a new generation with high expectations. In the past either the ruling class had repressed the revolutionary movements (Ottoman, Colonial powers) or the army had put their governments to an end (Nasser and Asad). In the present experience there are new elements: women’s empowerment, new media and the growing role of civil society with both secular and Islamic trends. The critical elements are economic, social and also legal: in fact, the revolutions have shown up the fragility of societies that still maintain traditional social codes, like the family law, with a conservative interpretation of the Islamic faith(s?) that clashes with the needs of the modern working woman. Furthermore, the Governments were not able to answer to the higher expectations of the young graduates, and their competences became a boomerang: a ruling class that proved unable to govern transition from dictatorship towards modernity and democracy. The new media helped to bring together the different groups of young people that had already worked to change the situation in the past years. The most difficult task now is to grant equal rights and duties to the different political and cultural realities of the country. This paper will examine these elements with a view to understanding the changes taking place in these countries through the lenses of the socio-political actors that emerged in the region and that are likely to play an increasingly prominent and assertive role in the future.