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" Two Faces of Revolutionary Consciousness: Solidarity and Ideology in the Arab Spring "
Ghorayeb, Mila
Roberts, William
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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1054601
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| Doc. No
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TL53718
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| Main Entry
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Ghorayeb, Mila
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| Title & Author
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Two Faces of Revolutionary Consciousness: Solidarity and Ideology in the Arab Spring\ Ghorayeb, MilaRoberts, William
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| College
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McGill University (Canada)
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| Date
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2019
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| Degree
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M.A.
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2019
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| Note
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101 p.
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| Abstract
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Twentieth-century theorists of revolution focused on articulating what conditions were necessary for motivating transformative political change. In particular, theorists were concerned with the concept of consciousness raising. V.I. Lenin's theory famously argued that consciousness – an understanding of the inner-workings of one's unfreedom – must be brought to people by revolutionary vanguards. Leninist theory was later challenged when post-colonial theorists such as Ranajit Guha rejected the claim that people require their consciousness to be raised by external actors. Guha's work showed that rebels can be conscious on their own terms by highlighting evidence of oppositional consciousness in peasant insurgents in colonial India. My thesis situates itself in this debate by answering the question: what is it that will make people with legitimate claims against existing powers articulate and act on this claim in a way that radically shifts the current political order? Overlaying my argument on the early uprisings in the Arab Spring, I argue that Lenin and Guha describe two crucial, but conceptually distinct forms of political consciousness. Guha's articulation of oppositional consciousness, I argue, answers the first form of the question: rejecting one's subordinate status through solidarity and self-identification with others of the same status will bring about political contestation. Lenin's conception of revolutionary class consciousness answers the second part: a cohesive and public counter-ideology to that of the status-quo is required to challenge and shift hegemonic political practices. Guha's oppositional consciousness leads a revolution to what Asef Bayat calls 'revolution as movement': the radical mobilization and solidarity of political subjects against existing powers. However, the deciding factor for whether the political order will shift or restore is dependent on which actor(s) cohesively articulate the source of peoples' unfreedom, as well as a blueprint for a freer order. This is what Bayat deems 'revolution as change,' which he argues failed to materialize during the Arab Spring. Just as Bayat argues for a conceptual distinction between movement and change, my thesis complements his concepts through mirroring conceptions of revolutionary consciousness. As a result, my argument shows that Lenin's and Guha's conceptions of consciousness are distinct and complementary rather than rivalling accounts.
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| Descriptor
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Political science
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Social structure
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| Added Entry
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Roberts, William
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McGill University (Canada)
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