Building legitimacy under bombs: syrian local revolutionary governance's quest for trust and peace (2017)

• Autores: Nour Salameh
• Directores de la Tesis: Enric Olivé Serret (dir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universitat Rovira i Virgili ( España ) en 2017
• Idioma: español
• Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Erminia Chiara Calabrese (presid.), Maria Àngels Roque Alonso (secret.), Didem Doganyilmaz (voc.)
• Materias:
  • Sociología
    • Problemas internacionales
      • Guerra y paz
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en: TDX
• Resumen

  • Although, Local Governance Entities in opposition-controlled areas in Syria introduce themselves as governmental bodies, their role and agency go beyond the traditional definition of local governance which limits them to resource mobilization, program implementation and service provision. They are part of a conflict society which includes a diversity of different organizations and groups, including, economic actors, private citizens, educators, activists, faith-based groups, foundations, legal organizations, advocacy groups, civil society organizations and the media, and also armed actors.

    By scrutinizing the current dynamics and different types of local and provincial governance and administration entities and initiatives existing in Syria (since the beginning of the revolution in 2011 till the date of writing this thesis 2017), and their relations with internal and external actors, as well as with major influential armed groups, I tend to measure the impact of these entities on local communities, and examine the hypothesis that the revolutionary capital that they possess asserts their position in the transitional period in Syria, and in the efforts for building sustainable peace in the country.

    In fact, I argue that a representative and legitimate system built with a bottom-up approach based on elections, with embedded freedom of expression, association and social inclusion would solidify peace or local truces, and may, if applied on a larger scale, lead to national peace.

    Further, I wonder if the involvement of local governance entities in peace negotiations and the transitional period that follows would reflect the triumph of the Syrian revolution and what it stands for in terms of putting an end to years of authoritarian regime and establishing a democracy that is well adapted to the particularities and the characteristics of the Syrian people.

    I also question if these LCs, in their current status, could serve as an example of a revolutionary democracy that could pave the way to a social democratic government.