Halaqas, relational subjects, and revolutionary committees in Syria

Through an ethnographic account of Syrian halaqas (Sunni religious circles) from the 1980s until the 2011 Syrian revolution, this article argues that halaqas have a revolutionary potential. The analysis demonstrates that Syrian religious circles are spaces of self-transformation that have heterotopi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inFocaal Vol. 2021; no. 91; pp. 50 - 66
Main Author Al-Khalili, Charlotte
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Brooklyn Berghahn Books, Inc 01.12.2021
Subjects
Civil service
Committees
Ethnography
Political aspects
Politics
Religion
Religious aspects
Religious cultural groups
Religious gatherings
Revolutions
Scalarity (Semantics)
Society
Students
Study abroad
Teachers
Transformation
Syria
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Through an ethnographic account of Syrian halaqas (Sunni religious circles) from the 1980s until the 2011 Syrian revolution, this article argues that halaqas have a revolutionary potential. The analysis demonstrates that Syrian religious circles are spaces of self-transformation that have heterotopic qualities. The Darayya halaqa studied here is a space where present and future are collapsed: a space in which future revolutionary selves and societies are already enacted. This temporal collapse is thus simultaneously a scalar one, for through the emergence of a relational or unbounded subject, a revolutionary project is being performed. This project is, moreover, without a preexisting program that its members seek to implement in a distant future; it is rather a revolutionary project that is perpetually in the making through discussions and actions happening within it.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:0920-1297
1558-5263
DOI:10.3167/fcl.2021.910104