Seamlessly blending field research, on-the-ground interviews, and social theory, Asef Bayat shows how the practice of everyday life in Egypt and Tunisia was fundamentally altered by revolutionary activity. Women, young adults, the very poor, and members of the underground queer community can credit the Arab Spring with steps toward equality and freedom.

In Bayat’s telling in Revolutionary Life: The Everyday of the Arab Spring (Harvard University Press, 2021), the Arab Spring emerges as a paradigmatic case of “refolution”―revolution that engenders reform rather than radical change. Both a detailed study and a moving appeal, Revolutionary Life identifies the social gains that were won through resistance.

Mehdi Sanglaji: Political Science; Middle East Studies; working on a PhD thesis, allegedly! Political violence, terrorism, and all in between.

Find me at mehdi.haydari@gmail.com or @MehdiSanglaji on twitter.

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Asef Bayat, "Revolutionary Life: The Everyday of the Arab Spring" (Harvard UP, 2021)