Loyalism’ as masculinist identity politics

Navigating the use of symbolic discourse in the Syrian war

Bibliographic Data

ID6420528
AuthorsRahaf Aldoughli (0000-0003-2720-8242, Lancaster University, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume10
Issue1
Pages76-93
Publication date2024-07-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueContemporary Levant (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2058-1831 • E-ISSN: 2058-184X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/20581831.2024.2374213
OpenAlexW4400498355
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited43

The question of how Syria's Baathist regime has managed to maintain its domination or hegemony over much of the country's populace under conditions of extended violence is an ongoing one. Its influence is evident in the apparently uncoerced public demonstrations of support for Bashar al-Assad that have regularly occurred over the decade since the outbreak of the conflict in 2011. In this article I focus on the ideological aspects of this loyalist support and present an analysis that emphasises masculinism as a central aspect of the regime's strategy to consolidate and maintain political power. While other analyses have described the influence of sectarianism, regional rivalries, patronage networks and securitisation as contributing factors in authoritarian survival in Syria, the gendered dimensions of Bashar al-Assad's hold on power have received less scrutiny. The broader study of links between militarisation, nationalism and masculinism has much to offer in expanding our understanding of the persistence of Syrian Baathist loyalism

Aesthetics · Authoritarianism · Democracy · Hegemony · Identity (music · Ideology · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Scrutiny · Sectarianism · Sociology · Gender Studies · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law

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