Ten years after the Arab Spring

The wave of revolutions that came to be known as the Arab Spring began a decade ago – in December of 2010.

Arabs mobilised in their millions in collective calls for democracy, justice and freedom of expression. Governments fell. Autocrats – names like Mubarak, Gaddafi, Ben Ali – went with them.

In one country after another, Arabs were tasting freedom of expression for the first time. Voices that had been ignored or silenced were finally telling their own stories, driving their own revolutions.

In this special edition of The Listening Post, we take a retrospective look at what happened in the halcyon days of the Arab uprisings. And we discuss the subsequent crushing of democratic movements; the clampdowns on freedom of the press that remain in place today.

We have chosen to focus on the stories of three countries: Tunisia, where the movement got its start; Egypt, where it appeared to reach its height; and Syria, where it hit a brick wall.

Contributors:

Zaina Erhaim – Journalist and communications trainer
Sherine Tadros – Deputy Director of Advocacy, Amnesty International
Adel Iskandar – Asst Professor of Global Communication, Simon Fraser University
Karam Nachar – Publisher and co-founder, Al Jumhuriya
Marwan Kraidy – Dean and CEO, Northwestern University, Qatar
Monia Ben Hamadi – Editor-in-chief, Inkyfada