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Hum Rights Rev (2014) 15:413431
DOI 10.1007/s12142-014-0315-5
Julie Harrelson-Stephens & Rhonda L. Callaway
Published online: 16 April 2014# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Abstract We discuss how the Arab Spring is a reflection of the resiliency of the human rights regime. In order to accomplish this, we explore the extent to which the Arab Spring represents norm diffusion among Middle East and North Africa (MENA) states. Specifically, we examine the cases of Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain and consider how economic and demographic changes created space for human rights discourse in these countries. We find that, in the case of MENA states, the Arab Spring represents significant pressure from below. Access to new forms of social media allowed civil society to organize, publicize, and protest relatively efficiently. Social media expanded the potential role of individuals and created newly empowered latent human rights activists who emerged as leaders of the norm diffusion process. The resulting diffusion of human rights norms in the Arab region represents one of the most significant expansions of the human rights regime since the regimes inception.
Keywords Arab Spring . Norm diffusion . Human rights regime . Social media . Constructivism
J. Harrelson-Stephens (*)
Department of Political Science, Stephen F. Austin State University, Box 13045 SFA Station, LAN Room 108, Nacogdoches, TX 75962, USAe-mail: [email protected]
R. L. Callaway
Department of Political Science, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Box 2149, Huntsville, TX 77341, USAe-mail: [email protected]
You Say You Want a Revolution: the Arab Spring, Norm Diffusion, and the Human Rights Regime
414 J. Harrelson-Stephens, R.L. Callaway
Ash-sha b yurid isqat an-nizamThe people want to bring down the regime1
Introduction
The spark for the Arab Spring began on December 17, 2010 when Mohamed Bouazizi immolated himself in protest against the harsh treatment by local officials in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. At 26, Bouazizi became the symbol of dissatisfaction with the government of Tunisia and, subsequently, the governments in the surrounding Middle East and North Africa (MENA) states. A street vendor operating without official authorization, Bouazizis act encapsulated the increasing sense of hopelessness and frustration. The actions of Bouazizi resonated throughout the region as well as the world, since his gesture was intimately tied to a philosophy of life: that of dignity,...