Dear colleagues, I am working about the relation between rebellion and democracy and recently published the paper "Democracy Needs Rebellion. A Democratic Theory Inspired by Albert Camus" in THEORIA Journal of Social and Political Theory. In a next step, I would like to add a more empirical research about social movements in order to test my assumptions. What do you know about the relation between an existential feeling of rebellion and political engagement in social movements? Who among you works about that question?
Dear Markus,
I think the best way to study the issue would be in J. C. Isaac, "Arendt, Camus and Modern Rebellion". There is also a book about the relationship between the existential understanding of rebellion and feminist movements: E. Bartlett, Rebellious Feminism: Camus's Ethic of Rebellion and Feminist Thought. On a more concrete level: Camus's study of rebellion was considered an important point of reference for political dissidents in Poland before 1989. This, however, I only know from private correspondence with former members of polish opposition of 70's and 80's. "The Rebel" was not allowed to be published in Poland until 1989, but there were many underground copies of the book distributed among political dissidents.
I don't have a lot of time here but would refer you to my essay "Disintegration of States" which I have uploaded.
With the success of the revolutions of the Arab Spring, it has become clear that the Arab world is today undergoing profound radical changes in all areas of life. Despite what appears in many Arab political regimes, to be apparent stability at the top of the political pyramid, the regimes are subject to violent waves of change, and this will certainly affect the stability of these pyramids in various degrees and forms. Perhaps the most affected by these successive changes are the youth, who constitute the majority in the Arab societies today, calls for reform are continuous, and advocates of reform seek to create new conditions capable of meeting their basic demands. Repression, abuse, and security solutions will not put an end to these reform demands. The peoples have broken the barriers of fear and emerged, replacing the culture of submission and negativity with one of participation and responsibility.@