Ali Sonay | University of Bern (original) (raw)

Books by Ali Sonay

The April 6 Youth Movement began as a Facebook page that sought to mobilize young Egyptians' su... more The April 6 Youth Movement began as a Facebook page that sought to mobilize young Egyptians' support for striking industrial workers. Established in Egypt in 2008 when over 100,000 Facebook users joined, the movement consisted mainly of young Egyptians who had never been involved in politics before. The group's unprecedented popularity meant that it eventually coalesced into a political movement and played a key role in the revolution against Hosni Mubarak's rule. This book investigates the rise and fall of the April 6 Movement to explain the contentious dynamics of social activism in Egypt. Despite the Movement's initial success, it was banned by an Egyptian court and its main founders arrested after it later turned against the military-installed regime. The formal transition process following Mubarak's fall had posed ideological and organizational challenges to the Movement, leading to internal fragmentations and the gradual loss of its mobilizing capacity.

But Ali Sonay argues here that social movements around the world faced very similar opportunities and constraints, and that the political and socio-economic dynamics in Egypt cannot be understood by referring to concepts such as the 'West' and 'Middle East'. Instead, according to Sonay, the Arab uprisings were embedded in the increasingly volatile global political and socio-economic context that reached way beyond the Middle East and was exacerbated by the financial crisis in 2008. Based on first-hand and in-depth empirical findings, Sonay sheds new light on the so-called Arab Spring and presents the April 6 Movement as a manifestation of a global political discourse.

Papers by Ali Sonay

Kebikeç Sayı 53, 2022

Kebikeç: İnsan Bilimleri İçin Kaynak Araştırmaları Dergisi Sayı 53: Osmanlı'da Türkçe Dışı Süreli... more Kebikeç: İnsan Bilimleri İçin Kaynak Araştırmaları Dergisi
Sayı 53: Osmanlı'da Türkçe Dışı Süreli Yayınlar (4)

Middle East Critique, 2018

Turkey has been undergoing a transition in governance over decades, most recently in the sociopo... more Turkey has been undergoing a transition in governance over decades, most recently in
the sociopolitical transformation from Kemalist laicism to Islamic-dominated politics. The shifts have been uneven, with government frequently overtaken by military control, and then returned to some form of democratic functioning, with associated changes in the laws reflecting greater or lesser tolerance for multi-party politics, public religious practice, and EU-inspired civic liberties.
Throughout, the experience has engaged a tension between Western influences and Islamic norms as interpreted through processes of modernization and economic liberalization. The media’s role as a conveyor of cultural imaginaries and national identities has led it to play an important part in this trajectory. Yet, although its autonomy has varied depending on those in power—at times being a tool entirely controlled by government, at others operating with few fetters—the laws and regulations surrounding the media have varied much less, suggesting the legal structure defining Turkish media reflects in general terms the public’s view of its position and role in society. This is despite the fact that the media laws in Turkey have not been holistically forged, nor rigorously updated to accommodate technological change. What is suggested here is that the media’s status as a strategic circulator of ideas within social relations and as an ideological bellwether of public values, has been translated into the legal corpus, creating a uniquely Turkish interpretation of the media’s agency, and instrumentality, which we suggest is made comprehensible through Values and Status Negotiation Theory (VSN).

Middle East Critique , 2018

Since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, the greater visibility of re... more Since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, the greater visibility of religion and the emergence of a conservative middle class have reconfigured the boundaries of what is thinkable and sayable in Turkey, particularly in the media. Despite its importance to media consumers, academic analysts have marginalized radio compared with television and the press. Yet increasing commercialization and local concentration have affected mainstream music radio and reshaped religious broadcasting. This article focuses on local radio in the periphery. How does the radio landscape in Central Anatolia, a region reflecting the conservative bourgeoisie’s new dominance, mirror and link to the dominance of the AKP? Fieldwork conducted in Konya, one of the Anatolian ‘Tigers’ and a centre of AKP support, provides the empirical data for this case study.

The Journal of North African Studies, 2017

Among the effects of the Arab uprisings on Morocco were the adoption of a new constitution and th... more Among the effects of the Arab uprisings on Morocco were the adoption of a new constitution and the emplacement of an Islamist-led coalition government. Despite these significant changes, the internal discussion on democratic change and increased political participation and freedom is ongoing. The media are both one of the major subjects and the forum of this debate. An important development has been the liberalisation of the previously state-controlled radio sector in 2005, with 13 private radio stations having been established in addition to the already existing public stations. As the restructuring of the audiovisual sector is a recent phenomenon, this paper asks how contemporary Moroccan audiences responded: What do they listen to and why? In order to answer this question, fieldwork was conducted for a period of three months, primarily interviewing taxi drivers as a major cohort of radio listeners. In addition, an online survey of students’ listening preferences helped to contrast the taxi-driver findings with those relating to a younger generation. Theoretically, the paper approaches the topic by looking at the ‘uses and gratifications’ theory in an authoritarian context. The findings indicate that newly established private radio stations enjoy wide popularity and thereby are challenging the public stations’ position.

Edited Works by Ali Sonay

Sayı 53: Osmanlı'da Türkçe Dışı Süreli Yayınlar (4): Arapça

Book Chapters by Ali Sonay

Vor hundert Jahren wurde an der Universität Basel ein «Orientalisches» Seminar gegründet. Doch di... more Vor hundert Jahren wurde an der Universität Basel ein «Orientalisches» Seminar gegründet. Doch die Geschichte der Basler Orientstudien reicht viel weiter zurück. Der Sammelband geht auf diese Vorgeschichte ein und stellt die Fach-vertreter vor, die in den letzten hundert Jahren am Seminar gewirkt haben. Weitere Themen sind die Debatte um den «Orientalismus», die seit den 1980er-Jahren Selbstverständnis und Wahrnehmung des Faches «Orienta-listik» beeinflusste, und der in den Sprachlehrmitteln seit dem 19. Jahrhundert bis heute festzustellende Wandel im Zugwang zum Arabischen. Aufgezeigt wird schliesslich die enge Beziehung des Seminars zur Universitätsbibliothek Basel anhand der dort aufbewahrten Dokumente, die vor allem aus den Nach-lässen von Rudolf Tschudi (1884-1960) und Fritz Meier (1912-1998) stammen: arabische, persische und osmanisch-türkische Handschriften, historische Ori-entfotografien und persönliche Dokumente, insbesondere Briefe. Der Band begleitet eine Ausstellung zur Hundertjahrfeier des Seminars in der Basler Universitätsbibliothek, die im Herbst 2019 stattfindet. CLAUDIA BOLLIGER studierte Kunstgeschichte, Islamwissenschaft und Klassi-sche Archäologie an der Universität Basel und arbeitet vorwiegend im Bereich Bibliothek, Dokumentation und Archiv. Seit 2001 ist sie an der Universitätsbi-bliothek Basel tätig. RENATE WÜRSCH studierte Indoiranische Philologie, Islamwissenschaft und Semitistik in Basel und Heidelberg und ist seit 2004 Titularprofessorin für Islam-wissenschaft an der Universität Basel. Sie hat unter anderem zur Philosophie in der islamischen Welt und zur persischen Literatur publiziert.

Jugendbewegungen Städtischer Widerstand und Umbrüche in der arabischen Welt, 2014

Conference Presentations by Ali Sonay

The Arab uprisings, the Gezi Protests in Turkey and the Green Movement in Iran have been accompan... more The Arab uprisings, the Gezi Protests in Turkey and the Green Movement in Iran have been accompanied by an upsurge of cultural manifestations of meaning-making and dissent. Numerous songs, novels, movies, graffities, and memes have been produced, whereas particularly visual expressions have become iconic. These moments of creativity underscore that these processes of upheaval cannot be contextualized thoroughly by focusing only on formal political trajectories. Instead, artistic productions will provide a more profound picture of values, aims, narratives, images, and icons which mattered to individuals and societies.
In this lecture series we will explore in detail this diversity of creative manifestations which has been produced in the last decade in the Middle East and North Africa by focusing on the interaction between the visual and the political

Workshops by Ali Sonay

The struggle for political participation, social justice and legal equality was a key element of ... more The struggle for political participation, social justice and legal equality was a key element of radical socialist and communist movements that emerged in Arab countries before and after World War I. These movements mobilized the masses, organized the workers, formed political parties and called for political demonstrations or, in some instances, for armed revolution. The spread of radical ideas among workers, the middle class, and intellectuals mirrored the growing integration of Arab societies into a globalized economy from the nineteenth century onwards.
Ideologically, the main domestic opponents of Marxist/Communist movements in many Arab countries were Arab nationalist and Islamist movements both of whom connected citizenship rights to national and/or religious identity and strove to establish a homogeneous nation. In contrast, the radical left recruited followers from all sectors of Arab societies, especially from religious and ethnical minorities as well as members of foreign nationalities. Women participated also in communist/Marxist movements, but sources reveal the male-dominated cultures inside these movements and the little attention they gave to the struggle for women’s rights.
In spite of the political differences, communists throughout history formed part-time alliances with nationalist, Islamists and authoritarian states, often with detrimental results. Moreover, the rigid structures of communist parties did not favour internal democracy. After 1990, the communist movement lost influence and many former supporters moved onwards to liberal or Islamist ideas, as part of an often bitter learning process. The remaining as well as newly emerging leftist groups are experimenting with new forms of organisation, mobilisation, action, and ideological mixture. A higher sensibility for questions of citizenship rights is characteristic for the post-Communist left. In the recent civil uprisings of 2010/11 and 2019/2020 in many Arab countries, many leftist movements are present, but they represent mainly one contested ideological current among others.

Related topics:

1. Socialist and Communist Movements before and after World War I
2. Women Participation and Women Rights in Marxist/Communist Movements
3. Communist/Marxist Movements and Religion
4. Leftism in the Recent Uprisings in the Arab World

For further information, see: https://nahoststudien.philhist.unibas.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/nahoststudien/CfA_MUBIT_2020_Arab_Marxism_Final.pdf

As a zone of contact between the Russian and Ottoman Empires, the Black Sea represents a prime su... more As a zone of contact between the Russian and Ottoman Empires, the Black Sea represents a prime subject of historical research. People, goods, commodities, and ideas traveled and circulated easily through networks along the shores and across the sea. During the nineteenth century, mutual interactions between port cities and regions intensified yet again, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. This was due in part to new technologies and the onset of the steamship age, which heralded reduced travel times and shorter routes.We would like to use this workshop as an opportunity to approach the modern history of the Black Sea region from different perspectives. Main topics include:

- The ambivalences inherent in a transnational zone of contact that was simultaneously dominated by interimperial competition
- The cultural effects of economic integration in the Black Sea region
- The possible applicability of new methodological or theoretical approaches to the study of the region’s economic, social and cultural history.

The Inter-University Doctoral Cooperation in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (MUBIT) is please... more The Inter-University Doctoral Cooperation in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (MUBIT) is pleased to hold its 7th Annual Doctoral Workshop at the University of Basel between October 18th-19th, 2019. The Workshop is entitled "Values and Status Negotiation: Media in the Middle East and North Africa“ and will be offered by our guest lecturer Dr. Roxane Farmanfarmaian (University of Cambridge).
In this workshop, students will engage with understandings of the media in the Middle East and North Africa from the perspective of the role media plays in society, and the position it commands in relation to power. This re-conceives the study of media as a political project on grounds that the media reflects the society that produces it and operates as a socially symbolic resource.
Values and Status Negotiation is therefore a framework for understanding the media from the inside, and in terms of their own environments. In today’s increasingly polarized political atmosphere, scholarly interrogation of the media’s rights and appropriate roles in social context is increasingly relevant, and we seek applicants whose work sets out to discover how these are understood, rationalized, exercised, negotiated and found appropriate and useful within different social milieux. Those interested in the practices and power of media across platforms, within both the private and public spheres, who seek fresh approaches to the media’s engagement with audience norms and historical experiences from perspectives that arise from within the Middle East and North Africa, are particularly encouraged to apply.
Related questions that this workshop will explore include:

1. Defining Free Expression and the Meaning of a Free Media
2. Conceptualizing the Profession of Media and its Instrumental Role in Society
3. The Relationship between Local, Regional and International Media
4. How has the Role of Media changed since the Arab Uprisings?

For further information, see https://nahoststudien.philhist.unibas.ch/de/doktorat/mubit/anlaesse/?fbclid=IwAR0riEolwvXOnm2ZBpGEPW5Iz4KbCobQRxpOv0FCgKlYe_4h8hcsBx6QDm0

Ezine Article by Ali Sonay

Geschichte der Gegenwart, 2020

Waren die Osmanen Tyrannen oder Heilsbringer für den arabischen Raum? Über diese historische Frag... more Waren die Osmanen Tyrannen oder Heilsbringer für den arabischen Raum? Über diese historische Frage wird gegenwärtig in aufwendig produzierten Fernsehserien aus der Türkei einerseits und Saudi-Arabien und den Emiraten andrerseits gestritten. Dabei geht es um handfeste politische Rivalitäten.

Book Reviews by Ali Sonay

Kebikeç Sayı 53, 2022

Middle East Critique, 2018

Middle East Critique , 2018

The Journal of North African Studies, 2017

Jugendbewegungen Städtischer Widerstand und Umbrüche in der arabischen Welt, 2014