LIVE-AR PROJECT

During the 2010s, Arab societies witnessed popular uprisings on an unprecedented scale. These movements succeeded in bringing together people from all walks of life: long-standing activists and first-time protesters, from wealthy and precarious communities, students and workers, young and old… women and men who were previously ‘voiceless’ (Spivak, 2003) and who then became revolutionaries. Often described as apolitical, they all marched with hope of a profound change. However, a decade later, a strong sense of disillusionment has set in across the region. Wars, failed political transitions and authoritarian takeovers seem to have buried the revolutionary projects. The ERC LIVE-AR studies the ‘afterlives’ (Filleule et al., 2018; Ross, 2005) of these revolutionaries in four countries of the region: Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. While some of them continue to defend the revolutionary cause, investing themselves in new areas of commitment, others have abandoned all forms of activism to concentrate on other spheres of their lives. The medium- and long-term consequences of their participation in the uprisings remain an open question..