Response to Hassan: The Limits of “Orientalism”
Since the end of 2010 popular uprisings have sprung up in rural as well as urban areas and spread to many Arab countries. While it is still difficult to predict their final outcome one thing is becoming clear: they express the determination of the populations in the Arab world to reject despotism and authoritarianism as destiny. They also express, partially at least, the affirmation of a common political actor: the “people.” Even though spontaneity...