The Alawis of Syria: War, Faith and Politics in the Levant

404 Pages·2015·14.807 MB·English

by  Michael Kerr, Craig Larkin

THE ALAWIS OF SYRIA
Urban Conflicts, Divided Societies
Series editors
Michael Kerr and Craig Larkin (both at the Centre for the Study of Divided
Societies, Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, King’s College London)
Wendy Pullan and Max Sternberg (both at the Centre for Urban Conflicts
Research, Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge)
Cities are increasingly the battlegrounds on which global powers,
national forces, and local identities intersect and are contested.
This series explores cities as sites of strategic and geopolitical conflict
over sovereignty, security, politics, and identity, and how social and spatial
divisions within urban spaces are mediated through power-sharing,
the exigencies of everyday life and other processes. Through the
interdisciplinary scrutiny of contemporary urban and social conflicts,
this series informs our understanding of cities, societal divisions and the
place of conflict in the world today.
MICHAEL KERR and CRAIG LARKIN (EDS)
THE ALAWIS OF SYRIA
WAR, FAITH AND POLITICS IN THE LEVANT
The Alawis of Syria
War, Faith and Politics in the Levant
MICHAEL KERR
CRAIG LARKIN
(Editors)
A
A
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
Michael Kerr and Craig Larkin.
The Alawis of Syria: War, Faith and Politics in the Levant.
ISBN: 9780190458119
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vii
Contributors ix
Note on Transliteration xv
List of Figures xvii
Introduction: For ‘God, Syria, Bashar and Nothing Else’?
Michael Kerr 1
PART I
ALAWIS: SECRECY AND SURVIVAL
1. The Genesis of Syria’s Alawi Community Aslam Farouk-Alli 27
2. The Alawis in the Ottoman Period Stefan Winter 49
3. Community, Sect, Nation: Colonial and Social Scientific
Discourses on the Alawis in Syria during the Mandate and
Early Independence Periods Max Weiss 63
PART II
ALAWIS AND THE SYRIAN STATE
4. ‘Go to Damascus, my son’: Alawi Demographic Shifts under
Ba’ath Party Rule Fabrice Balanche 79
5. Syria’s Alawis and the Ba’ath Party Raymond Hinnebusch 107
6. The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood’s Alawi Conundrum
Raphaël Lefèvre 125
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CONTENTS
PART III
ALAWI COMMUNITIES, IDENTITIES AND POWER
7. Alawi Diversity and Solidarity: From the Coast to the Interior
Leon T Goldsmith 141
8. Patronage and Clientelism in Bashar’s Social Market Economy
Alan George 159
9. The Alawis of Tripoli: Identity, Violence and Urban Geopolitics
Craig Larkin and Olivia Midha 181
PART IV
ALAWIS IN CONFLICT AND CONTESTATION
10. Chasing Ghosts: The Shabiha Phenomenon Aron Lund 207
11. Alawis in the Syrian Opposition Carsten Wieland 225
12. Repression is not ‘a Stupid Thing’: Regime Responses to the
Syrian Uprising and Insurgency Reinoud Leenders 245
Notes 275
Bibliography 345
Index 367
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Producing a book that examines the contempory experience of the Syrian
Alawi community in its historical context was the objective of an international
workshop held by the Lebanon and Syria Research Group in the Institute of
Middle Eastern Studies at King’s College London on 8–9 January 2014. This

brought world leading Syria experts and Western diplomats together for a
two-day roundtable with the editors. The workshop was funded through the
Centre for the Study of Divided Societies by the King’s College London Arts
& Humanities Research Institute and the British Council. We are extremely
greatful for their generous support and the assistance of their staff. We would
like to thank Michael Dwyer for his advice, kindness and support and also his
colleagues at C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. Special thanks to Lord Michael

Williams of Baglan for his contributions at King’s during the formative stages
of this volume, to colleagues at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office
and research students at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies who took part
in the workshop.
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