Solidarity and fragmentation in Libya’s associational life
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.16.2.40Keywords:
Peace process, Lybia, revolution, associational lifeAbstract
This article is a sociohistorical analysis of two regions of Libya, Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, following independence in 1951. Building on Pierson (2004), it focuses on path dependent trends in solidarity and the fragmentation of Libya’s associative space. It argues that associational life has played a twofold role in Libya’s political and social history. First, it actively contributed to the strengthening of resistance against colonialism and tyranny, the development of state institutions and the domestication of state power. Second, it contributed to processes of bonding within groups that compromised the development of a Libyan state, which was a factor in the onset of the Libyan civil war (2014–2020). This dual nature of the associative space is an important point of inquiry for Libyan historiography and something that is important for policymakers presiding over the country’s state, nation building and economic development to understand.
References
Elesin, ʻ.M.J., 2017. The Role of Al-Awqāf (Islamic Endowments) in Poverty Alleviation and Community Development in the Nigerian Context. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 37(2), pp.223-232.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2017.1339497
Baldinetti, A., 2014. The origins of the Libyan nation: Colonial legacy, exile and the emergence of a new nation-
state. Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203868164
Bassiouni, M.C. ed., 2013. Libya: From Repression to Revolution: A Record of Armed Conflict and International Law Violations, 2011-2013. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004257351
Bin-Halim, M.A., 2011. Safahat khalida min ta’rikh Libiya al-siyasi: mudhakkirat ra’is al-wuzara’ Libiya al-asbaq [Eternal Pages from the Political History of Libya: The Memoirs of Libya’s Former Prime Minister]. Nicosia: Rimal Books.
Bribena, E.K., 2017. Civil society and nation building in the Arab spring: a focus on Libya. Gender and Behaviour, 15(2), pp.8981-8991.
Al- ‘Eneizi, M., 2011. “al-haraqqah al-kashfiyyah fi Benghazi: al-bidayyat wal ta’sis.” [The scout movement in Benghazi: The beginnings and establishment] Available at: http://bengazipost.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post_03.html [accessed 7 June 2019]
El Doufani, M., 2011. “Libya crisis: What role do tribal loyalties play?”. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12528996 [accessed 5 October 2021]
Esposito, J.L., 2009. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, vol. 5. New York.
Evans-Pritchard, E.E., 1946. Italy and the Sanusiya Order in Cyrenaica1. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 11(4), pp.843-853.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00089874
Joffé, G., Roberts, A., Willis, M.J., McCarthy, R. and Ash, T.G., 2016. Civil resistance in Libya during the Arab Spring. Civil Resistance in the Arab Spring: Triumphs and Disasters, pp.116-140.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198749028.003.0005
Lacher, W., 2020. Libya's Fragmentation: Structure and Process in Violent Conflict. Bloomsbury Publishing.
https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755600847
Matar, H., 2014. “The Consequences of Dreams” The New Yorker. Available through:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/consequences-dreams
al-Mufti, M., 2012. Jam ‘iyyat ʿUmar al-Mukhtar (1941–1951): Timuh lil mu‘aradda al dimoqrattiyya fee fimujtama’ taqlidi [The ‘Umar al-Mukhtar Association: The Ambition of Democratic Opposition in a Traditional Society] Publisher unidentified.
al-Mughayribi, M.B., 1993. Watha‘iq Jam’iyyat ʿUmar al-Mukhtar: Safha min ta’rikh Libiya [The Documents of the ‘Umar al-Mukhtar Association: A Page from Libya’s History]. Cairo: Mu’assassat dar al-hilal.
al-Mughayribi, M.B., 1995. al-Mujtama’ al madani wa al tahawul al dimoqratti fee fi Libiya [Civil Society and the Democratic Transformation in Libya]. Cairo: Dar al Hilal.
Noriega, A.C., 2012. “Citizens’ Participation and Associative Space.”. Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/35171066.pdf
Pargeter, A., 2009. Localism and radicalization in North Africa: local factors and the development of political Islam in Morocco, Tunisia and Libya. International affairs, 85(5), pp.1031-1044.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2009.00845.x
Pierson, P., 2004. Politics in time : History, institutions, and social analysis. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400841080
Romanet Perroux, J.L., 2019. The Deep Roots of Libya’s Security Fragmentation. Middle Eastern Studies, 55(2), pp.200-224.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2018.1538970
El Sahli, M., 2015. Under two flags: The development of NGOs in Libya. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Salah, A. and El Taraboulsi, S., 2013. Libya. Giving in Transition and Transitions in Giving: Philanthropy in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia (2011-2013). John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement, the American University in Cairo
al-Sharif, M.al-S. 2010. Libya: al-Sera’ min ajl al-Istiklal [Libya: The Struggle for Independence]. Beirut: Al Furat
Swesi, R., El-Anis, I. and Islam, M.M., 2020. Food insecurity coping strategies in conflict-affected Libya. Development in Practice, 30(3), pp.394-408.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2019.1694644
al-Tir, M.O., 2013. As’illat al-Hadatha wa al-Intiqal al-Dimoqratti fee Libiyya: al-Muhimma al-‘Asiyya [Questions about Modernism and the Democratic Transition in Libya: The Difficult Task]. Beirut: Al Maaref Forum.
El Taraboulsi, S., Khallaf, M. and Farouky, N., 2013. Giving in Transition and Transitions in Giving: Philanthropy in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia 2011-2013.
El Taraboulsi, S. .2016. Peacebuilding in Libya: Cross-border transactions and the civil society landscape. Overseas Development Institute. Available at: https://odi.org/en/publications/peacebuilding-in-libya-cross-border-transactions-and-the-civil-society-landscape/
Eltaraboulsi‐McCarthy, S., 2017. The Arab Unrest and Debates on Immigration in the United Kingdom: A Generational Analysis of British‐Libyan Youth. The Muslim World, 107(1), pp.127-146.
https://doi.org/10.1111/muwo.12181
El Taraboulsi, S.N., 2020. State building and state-society relations in Libya (1911-1969): An examination of associations, trade unions and religious actors (Doctoral dissertation, University of Oxford).
Youngs, R., 2014. “From Transformation to Mediation: The Arab Spring Reframed”. Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Available at: https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/180892/arab_spring_reframed.pdf
