In 2011, Syrians broke the wall of silence and rose up against the Assad regime to reclaim their rights to liberty and dignity. Lire la suite
But the popular revolution was crushed by a 14-year war with devastating consequences: half a million people killed or wounded, over 150,000 imprisoned or disappeared. Half the population was forced into exile or displaced within the country. Millions of Syrians endured grief, hunger, and torture— and for all, a deep sense of powerlessness in the face of injustice. Yet, despite the destruction and the persistence of daily violence, these years of war also gave rise to immense hope and profound social transformations that transcended questions of identity and religion. New forms of mobilisation, autonomous civic initiatives, solidarities, and expressions of free speech emerged, asserting that the Syrian people are determined to shape their own future. The contributions gathered in this volume bear witness to the pioneering legacy of a decade of revolution and war that has irreversibly transformed Syrian society. Through case studies ranging from self-governance and wartime economies to shifts in domestic life, gender dynamics, and transitional justice, the book explores the scale of political, social, economic, and familial changes that Syria has undergone. These developments are analysed both within Syria and in exile—in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan—and are situated within the country's longer historical trajectory. Long overshadowed by geopolitical and strategic readings of the conflict, Syrian society is placed at the heart of this book, which seeks to uncover the forces driving its struggle for liberation.
Note on Transliteration
7 Foreword
9 Introduction. Syrian Society amid Revolution and War: A Diachronic Approach across Territories, Myriam Ababsa, Valentina Napolitano
PART I: Individual and collective journeys
43 Revolutionary Struggles within the Home: Transformations in the Domestic Lives of Syrian Women in Exile after 2011, Charlotte al-Khalili
65 Relations de genre et formes de protection parmi les familles syriennes en Jordanie (2018-2020), Valentina Napolitano
87 Les Syriens sous kafāla : de refuge en clandestinité, entre la Syrie et le Liban, Leïla Drif
109 « La mémoire d'un rêve de changement ». L’engagement et le parcours de Sana Yazigi dans l’archivage d’une mémoire syrienne, Sana Yazigi
PART II: Economic dynamics, subsistence and humanitarian aid
117 L’impact de la politique économique du gouvernement syrien sur les structures socioéconomiques, Joseph Daher
143 Raqqa’s Governance and Reconstruction Challenges (2017–2023), Myriam Ababsa
175 Agrarian Migrations and Moral Economies in Times of War: Syrian Pastoral Refugees in Jordan, Mathilde Gingembre
203 Alep : un parcours personnel (2011-2022), Salam Kawakibi
PART III: Political reconfigurations, governance structures and forms of mobilisation
211 Les terroirs syriens en recomposition. Géographie politique de la Syrie au regard du temps long, Matthieu Rey
241 L’enlèvement collectif des druzes de Suwaydāʾ par l’État islamique (juillet 2018).
Recompositions confessionnelles et politiques en temps de guerre en Syrie, Anna Poujeau
265 Reconsidering Governance from Below: Practices and Models of Autonomous Governance, Social Inclusiveness and Decentralisation in Wartime Syria, Aurora Sottimano
297 Transitional Justice in the Syrian Context: Diaspora Mobilisation and the Invention of Spaces for Justice, Julie Bernath
325 Majoritarian Syria: Justice in Conflict Resolution, Yassin al-Haj Saleh
339 Afterword. The Birth of a New Syria?, Élizabeth Picard
369 List of contributors
373 Table of contents