State Networks and Intra-Ethnic Group Variation in the 2011 Syrian Uprising

Bibliographic Data

ID7728008
AuthorsKevin Mazur (0000-0003-2978-6214, Nuffield College, Oxford, UK, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume52
Issue7
Pages995-1027
Publication date2019-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueComparative Political Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0010-4140 • E-ISSN: 1552-3829
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0010414018806536
OpenAlexW2898758860
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited29

The 2011 Syrian uprising looks, from afar, like a paradigmatic example of ethnically exclusive rule giving way to civil war. The ruling regime is drawn almost exclusively from the Alawi minority, and the challengers were drawn heavily from the Sunni majority. But many Sunnis remained quiescent or actively supported the regime. This article argues that variation in revolutionary participation among members of an excluded ethnic group is best explained in terms of the networks states construct across ethnic boundaries. It identifies several forms of linkage that regimes can develop with their subject populations and relates them to variations in local social structure. Drawing on an original data set of ethnic identity and challenge events in the Syrian uprising, the article quantitatively tests the state networks hypothesis. Its findings suggest that the mechanisms commonly associated with ethnic identity and “ethnic exclusion” frequently operate upon social boundaries below the ethnic group level

Collective identity · Construct (python library · Ethnic group · Identity (music · Linkage (software · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social group · Social identity theory · Social science · Sociology · State (computer science · Variation (astronomy · Gender Studies · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

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