The Future of the Arab Spring: Civic Entrepreneurship in Politics, Art, and Technology Startups - Softcover

Jamshidi, Maryam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0124165605 ISBN 13: 9780124165601

Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2013

Synopsis

Civic entrepreneurship lies at the heart of the Arab Spring. From the iconic image of an occupied Tahrir Square to scenes of dancing protesters in Syria and politically conscious hip hop in Tunisia, people across the Middle East and North Africa continue to collaborate and experiment their way out of years of dictatorship and political stagnation.  The Future of the Arab Spring examines the spirit of civic entrepreneurship that brought once untouchable dictators to their knees and continues to shape the region's political, artistic, and technology sectors. Through interviews with some of the region's leading civic entrepreneurs, including political activists, artists, and technologists, Maryam Jamshidi broadens popular understandings of recent events in this misunderstood region of the world.

• Features first-hand interviews with some of the most important political, cultural, and economic players on the ground in Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, and other Arab Spring countries
• Offers a window into a region often misunderstood in the United States
• Illuminates the potential for positive, grassroots change in the social, political, and economic systems of Arab countries

About this title

About the Author:

Maryam Jamshidi is the founder of Muftah.org, a digital magazine focusing on domestic and international issues confronting countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Maryam received a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Brown University, a Master’s degree in Political Theory from the London School of Economics, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Specializing in the legal issues pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, domestic Iranian politics, and international criminal law and transitional justice as they relate to the region, she recently completed five months of travel in the areas affected by the Arab Spring.

Review:

"Here, [Jamshidi] profiles some of the ‘most inspiring’ of...new civic entrepreneurial groups, focusing her discussion on groups in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria, and basing her profiles primarily on first-hand interviews with members of the groups. She has organized the material into three sections: civic entrepreneurship in politics and society, civic entrepreneurship in art and culture, and civic entrepreneurship in technology startups." --Reference & Research Book News, December 2013

"Contrary to the media reports, the Arab revolutions have not failed, and this book demonstrates why. By focusing on the grassroots, Maryam Jamshidi illustrates how countless organizations are keeping the Arab Spring alive. Her book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the reasons to be hopeful about the future of this troubled region." --Reza Aslan, author of No god but God and Zealot

"A fascinating and forward-looking book that stresses the positive aspects of the Arab Spring, emphasizing the extraordinary mobilization and cooperative effort of the youth as the instigators of the revolutions and their continuous participation in a movement of civic entrepreneurship that is expanding rather than contracting in the post-revolution period." --Haleh Esfandiari, Director of the Middle East Program, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

About this edition

• Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0124165605
• ISBN 13: 9780124165601
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 124