Clive Barnett and John Keane on the Arab Spring

Clive Barnett at Pop Theory has recently posted a great piece on how the Arab Spring uprisings have been theorised by various folks.

These events have been a powerful example of how cities and citizenship can intersect ... right from the way in which the self-immolation of street trader Mohamed Bouazizi helped to kick things off in Tunisia, to the way in which political claims about democracy and citizenship have been staged through the (highly mediated) occupation of streets and squares like Tahir Square in Cairo.

In his piece, Clive has compiled a whole range of public commentary on these events from various social and political theorists. This is a fantastic resource in itself. He also provides a really interesting analysis of how these commentators have responded to 'the events' in quite different ways. Definitely worth a read...

In memory of Bouazizi, Tunis, Jan 22 2011. Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjb22222222/5379184204/

[And as a side note, another commentary on these events that might be of interest to readers of this blog has just been published by John Keane here.]