The rise of the cosmopolitan traditionalists

From the Arab Spring to a global countermovement

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6298331
AutoresAdam K Webb (0000-0001-9688-950X, Johns Hopkins University (SAIS)–Hopkins-Nanjing Centre, China, autor correspondente)
Ano2015
Volume36
Fascículo4
Páginas425-440
Data de publicação2015-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Political Science Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0192-5121 • E-ISSN: 1460-373X
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0192512113516901
OpenAlexW2099825346
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas8
Referências citadas66

The revolutions of the Arab Spring, in contrast to the liberal third wave of the 1970s to 1990s, rest on a more popular and traditionalist base. Critics often depict these currents as insular and even xenophobic in outlook. This article engages the literature on democratisation, framing, and social movement globalisation, and challenges that assumption. It draws on in-depth interviews conducted with Islamists and other activists in Cairo during April and May 2012. It argues that the pressures of globalisation and the opportunities of democratic transition are forcing traditionalists on to more cosmopolitan terrain. These cosmopolitan traditionalist activists draw on inspiration from other parts of the world and express solidarity with revolutionary movements elsewhere. Unlike liberal cosmopolitans, however, they ground their mode of tolerance and cooperation on substantive traditional values. While the pressures of globalisation may limit the ability of post-revolutionary regimes to deliver on social aspirations, this shift of ideological framing may pave the way for new traditionalist networks that cut across borders. As global political opportunity structures emerge and frustrations build up within nation-states, this cosmopolitan traditionalist bloc is likely to have the numbers and influence to reshape world order

Cosmopolitanism · Countermovement · Democracy · Democratization · Framing (construction · Globalization · Ideology · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Reactionary · Social movement · Sociology · Solidarity · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Political Conflict and Governance