The Arab revolutions: between tyranny and cultural heritage

Did we, the Arabs, truly change after we revolted against our tyrants? Did we truly revolt so we could change? Are we capable of changing simply by overthrowing those who governed us? Or are we an exact replica of them and will we mimic them time and time again instead of creating a new culture? How long do we need to break out of the ancient culture of tyranny that was implanted in our minds and hearts by our fallen and falling tyrants?

No one can deny that our social, political, religious and cultural norms are the products of the political systems that they imposed on us for decades. We are, without a doubt, the products of the educational, political, social and religious systems that were created by our falling rulers. Thus, will we ever be able to break free from the regimes and if we do, when will we be able to do so?

Are we not afraid to replicate the legacies of these regimes generation after generation? One writer has said: “We hear the drums of liberation from afar and we believe that after a few days we will experience unforgettable moments that will make up for the decades of oppression and tyranny. Yet, all of this is merely wishful thinking as these tyrants are hiding within us until they are given the opportunity to emerge like a genie from a bottle.”

There is no doubt that many people began to feel this way after the dust settled on the Arab Spring as some believed that our societies will change by 180 degrees simply by changing our political systems.

They do not know that the easiest forms of change are political changes and the most difficult changes are deep-rooted societal and cultural changes because these cultures were created by our incumbent and fallen tyrants in order to ensure that they would always be able to come back to power so long as mind-sets and mentalities of their prevailing cultural communities did not change.

Thus, political changes must be accompanied by serious cultural and societal transformations even if these changes take a long time, especially considering certain traditions do not die easily as Gustav Le Bon said in his book Psychology of the Masses.

Many tyrants took advantage of sectarian, ethnic and tribal divides and they justified their actions by claiming that they were in power in order to resolve and prevent conflicts. In actuality, tyrannical regimes were following the tactics of divide and conquer.

While there is no doubt that this is absolutely true, the question that remains is whether or not new government systems actually want to get rid of these toxic political and cultural legacies. Of course not!

Although systems may change in terms of their appearance, the cultural content they enforce and produce has not changed at all and it will not change for decades and decades to come.

The new political systems that are replacing the old regimes have only been making minor changes to the cultural base behind their governmental framework. In fact, these minor changes do very little to change political practices. The new political systems that are being implemented are sanctifying the old regimes’ cultures.

One need not look farther than Iraq to see how the sectarian system has not really changed; however, it is now a subtler and less blatant sectarian system. Will the new political systems, for example, make educational changes to their curriculums in order to cut ties with the old regimes once and for all? Will the prevailing social culture be confronted in the same way that we challenged old political systems?

Cutting off the figureheads of the old regimes without changing the soul of the political body is the same as cutting off the tip of a glacial iceberg, which does not constitute even five per cent of the glacial mountain hiding under the water’s surface. The first thing that we need to do is implement new regulations. If we are genuinely serious about implementing changes as opposed to merely reproducing the old regimes’ framework, we need to wage a cultural revolution that will completely upheave entrenched social attitudes and ways of thinking.

We must understand that the structure of our society cannot be changed by merely changing our political figures or by the fall of old political systems. In every area of the Arab world, there are certain cultural practices and norms that the average person views as sacred. The question then becomes: what is the value of change if dropping political figures is permissible but changing our artificial notions of sacred social and cultural practices is considered taboo?

Will the people in the various Arab republics that witnessed change be willing to abandon their social positions? Would their nature even allow them to do so? Of course not!

Le Bon says: “The people’s true leaders are their inherited social and cultural traditions”, which are not easily changed. He added: “When you allow a society to deeply engrain their culture and traditions over many generations, they are then unable to evolve and become incapable of true change or reform.”

In many republics where changes have taken place, there are cultural and social hierarchies that cannot be ignored. Would anyone dare to destroy these sectarian and tribal hierarchies the way they dared to confront their tyrannical regimes? Unfortunately, the answer is no. In many of these societies, the inherited cultural and social norms are regarded as sacred practices, unlike the political systems and figures that were so easily toppled by the people.

Are the people willing and able to topple their cultural norms or will they need some time before they are willing to consider that notion?

One day, I asked a senior official the following question: “You came to power decades ago and you promised to change the foolish and deeply-rooted cultural practices that threatened the social classes. However, little by little, you aligned yourself with these practices and consecrated their position within society.”

He replied saying: “This is true but it is not because we wanted to solidify old practices but because we found that a large percentage of people followed these old traditions blindly and they didn’t want them to change. So we said to ourselves, if the masses don’t want us to change these systems then let us stand behind them as long as they don’t threaten the stability of the political system.”

There is no doubt that this official’s intentions are not entirely pure and that he took advantage of old practices in an attempt to preserve a new system. This is what the new systems established in the wake of the Arab Spring should avoid or they will inhibit true political changes.

The Arab Spring is undoubtedly a great event in the history of the Middle East and it provided a good starting point for change in general. Yet, those who desire true radical changes cannot seek to merely change their political systems. They must not say to themselves that the revolution has ended with the fall of their dictators; for a revolution starts with the fall of a tyrant.

If those in support of the revolution do not ensure that revolutionary values are implemented, those who stand against it will have the right to argue that the social and cultural legacies, which were present before the revolution, are still alive and well within the society. They will be ready to implement backwardness again and again.

If we look at the types of conflicts that are occurring in the countries of the Arab Spring we find that remnants of the old regimes are waging counter-revolutions by taking advantage of old political legacies. We saw this happen in Algeria during the revolution in the 1990s as the old regime came back with a vengeance in all its forms. The same thing has occurred in Egypt.

We are in need of a massive cultural revolution before we can even begin to dream of the changes we desire, which unfortunately are forbidden until now.

Translated from Al-Sharq newspaper, 23 March, 2014

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.