Benoît Challand is Associate Professor at the New School for Social Research in New York. He has published widely on civil society in the Middle East, including Palestinian Civil Society: Foreign Donors and the Power to Promote and Exclude (2009), The Arab Uprisings and Foreign Assistance (co-edited with F. Bicchi and S. Heydemann, 2016), and Imagining Europe: Myth, Memory and Identity (co-authored with Chiara Bottici, 2013).
'Empirically rich and theoretically compelling, Challand's book has much to tell us about how informality generates formal political change, collective imaginaries and “latent citizenship”, and how violence, creatively understood, responds to the shackles of what can appear to be an unshakable reality. A splendid work that communicates with theory from the Global South and helps us rethink democratic theory based on the Arab uprisings.' Mohammed Bamyeh, University of Pittsburgh 'An outstanding and unique work which provides the reader with an enticing account of the place of political violence and a fascinating analysis of the role of representation in and around the Arab revolutions. It is an intellectually fluent work which expands our understanding of these events and their aftermath.' Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, Geneva Graduate Institute 'Benoit Challand, combining historical and contemporary research, brings an original perspective to the analysis of the Arab Spring. Comparing Tunisia and Yemen through their colonial histories and contemporary conflicts, he explores the role of violence in popular protests, their representations in graffiti and the emergence of new forms of citizenship.' Bryan S. Turner, Australian Catholic University and the Graduate Center CUNY