Arab Spring Dreams: The Next Generation Speaks Out for Freedom and Justice from North Africa to Iran

by Nasser Weddady (Contributor), Nasser Weddady (Editor), Sohrab Ahmari (Editor)

From a gay man secretly mourning his lover's suicide in Morocco to a young woman denied schooling because of religious discrimination in Iran, Arab Spring Dreams spotlights some of the Middle East's most outspoken young dissidents. The essayists cover a wide range of experiences, including premarital sex, the lack of educational opportunities, teenage marriage, and the fight for political freedom. They also highlight how repressive laws and cultural mores snuff out liberty and stifle growth and consider how previous movements - particularly the American civil rights struggle - might be channeled to effect change in their own countries. Beautifully written and profoundly moving, these stories present a decisive call for change at a crucial point in the evolution of the Middle East.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Middle East

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 2012

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays from an essay contest in the Middle East meant to promote the values of Liberal Democracies. Originally conceived as an extension of Said's Orientalism and meant to combat the notion that Middle Eastern countries are not culturally capable of liberal democracy, the essays are pleas for Middle Eastern peoples' civil rights.

This book is useful for me, as I am currently preparing to teach about the Egyptian Revolution. There are some great, concise statements of the kind of repression and corruption Egyptians were protesting against. And for that reason, I'll use it.

However, I am slightly uncomfortable with the book as a whole. I am skeptical of the idea what Western Liberal Democracy is nothing more than a set of exportable, universalizable values. I'm also pretty uncomfortable with some of the "values" that get exported under the mantle of Western Liberal Democracy (such as individualism, a market-logic morality). The editor seems to think that the Middle East would be better off if it became like the Western world, and I am not convinced that Western culture is either desirable or sustainable. But other than that, it's a good book.

[Fadillah · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the outcome of the Arab spring hangs in the balance between democracy, theocracy and dictatorship, the dream of liberal awakening in the middle east can no longer be deferred.
- Nasser Weddady and Sohrab Ahmari
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Reading this book make me step back and think of my beloved country. How much i equally love and dislike this land — over the years of evaluating my relationship with Malaysia, which keep changing depending how my country sail itself in terms of liberty and freedom. Whatever i have felt towards my country, it was perfectly written via this book. Although these writers who shared their essay in this book is on the other side of the world but their sentiment remains the same. We want change and we want it now. They are calling out repressive and cruel regimes, manipulative and corrupt monarchy, kleptocratic and exploitative government and inefficient and weak leaders of their country to take a hard look at the state of their country and see how bad they have failed their younger generation. The book comprised with 38 essays including the conclusion and are divided into 3 parts which are Trapped, Unequal and Breaking Through. This book comes to fruition when the essay contest is being held and many of these writers send in their essays to write their deeply personal stories on what is going on with their countries. While i enjoyed most of the stories that featured in the book but the one that touched my heart was not belonged to the winner of the essay contest but the one that didnt win. I have list down few of the titles that is definitely my favourite among all the other essays. In order to inform the reader on whose the winner of this essay contest, the story that win the contest has been labelled in the book and their interview section is attached together with their story. It was equally sad and disappointing to see that some of the authors are forced to use the pseudonym and conceal their identity so that there will be no backlash on their family and friends if something happened. These are the young people that managed to look past the imaginary oasis of their country and decided to change or at least try to change the perception of their society that whatever this oasis is just a game by the ruler of their country. These are the young people that mourned their country for its gullibility. These are the young people that dare to dream that they can instil the wake up call to the citizens of their country. Overall, this book has a pretty balance essays collection as it is catered to everyone regardless of whether you are conservative, liberal or in between, gay, straight, arab or non arab - the issues remain the same : Change is all we need.
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Part 1 : Trapped
- Citizen or subject? by M. Elkhadiri , 20 (Morocco)
- Black like me by Sameer Az-Zein, 24 (Sudan)
Part 2 : Unequal
- My Sacred No by Dalia Ziada, 24 , (Egypt)
- A Persian Grandmother in Tokyo by B.A, 20, (Iran)
Part 3 : Breaking Through
- Contaminating Minds, Mona S.H, 19, (Saudi Arabia)
- The land is for all, 25, (M.A.S)

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty solid and unique collection of young people's voices, but I found it a little redundant after a while, especially since I'm already relatively aware of the injustices addressed. In many cases, too, the essays seemed somewhat generic, which was surprising since they were supposed to address the specific problems in the essayist's community. I really enjoyed the few paragraphs of context at the beginning of each essay, though, and I think overall it would be great for students (or anyone else unfamiliar with Arab/Iranian policies and mores) to get personal accounts of the Middle East and North Africa while learning about the region.

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of short essays, ranges from trite, melodramatic, to engaging and heart-stoppingly elegant. Great to get a glimpse of the moderate majority of youth.

[Jeroen van der Meer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book contains important and moving stories, but it does suffer a bit from inconsistent writing quality of the essayists and also isn't really an oral history of Arab Spring, which is what I was looking for.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[D.H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerfull

[ANFendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its a compilation of essay. Gritty but also good

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting collection of essays from the area, sheds a bit of light on the forms of oppression and ways folks are trying to fight against it over in that region. I think one of the things we miss out on is that the entire region has some of the most stalwart and restrictive regimes in the world there, and it gives people hope to get even a taste of freedoms. These essays help with the exchange of ideas and debates over subjects that would be squashed underneath boots whenever possible, but thanks to this group, ideas are at least getting out and being shared.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important book, that I am thinking about using in the classroom. It shows the other less discussed portion of the Middle East. The "dissenters", the marginalized, the "rebels"....Love this book!

[Edie Kestenbaum · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only finished this because I felt bad about not doing so.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays penned with intelligence, passion and maturity. This was my first exposure to Algiers Syndrome, among other ideas.

[Nicole Gas · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little dense, but definitely made me appreciate the freedoms we have here in the US