Post-reconciliation rural Damascus : are local communities still represented?

EZZI, Mazen

doi:10.2870/767545

Post-reconciliation rural Damascus : are local communities still represented?

dc.contributor.author	EZZI, Mazen
dc.date.accessioned	2020-12-09T13:39:16Z
dc.date.available	2020-12-09T13:39:16Z
dc.date.issued	2020
dc.description.abstract	Two years on from the Syrian regime’s military recapture of the whole of Rural Damascus, the fates of influential local actors, including communal dignitaries, religious clerics, businessmen, civil society activists and military commanders, appear to vary from area to area depending on a range of factors. Based mostly on interviews with members of reconciliation committees and local councils, and civil and military actors involved in negotiation processes, this paper presents a comparative study of six areas in Rural Damascus – Zabadani, Douma, Yalda, Qudsaya, al-Tall and Moadhamiyat al-Sham – to explain both changes and continuity in the local social actors and their roles. The research reveals three broadly distinct categories. In areas that were subject to intense warfare ending in the forced displacement of most of the population backed up by powerful foreign intervention, local communities have undergone severe trauma, their social fabric has been torn apart and their most prominent social actors lost. In areas that witnessed only partial displacement and limited external intervention, Sufi clerics, who took the lead during reconciliation processes, maintained a presence afterwards, albeit with roles that steadily diminished over time. In areas that witnessed only partial displacement and limited external intervention but where strong social and family networks were of great significance, some local community figures were able to remain and maintain their roles in the post-reconciliation phase.	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.2870/767545
dc.identifier.isbn	9789290849483
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1814/69175
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.orcid.upload	true	*
dc.publisher	European University Institute	en
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Middle East Directions (MED)	en
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Wartime and Post-Conflict in Syria	en
dc.relation.ispartofseries	2020/16	en
dc.relation.uri	http://middleeastdirections.eu/wpcs-project/	en
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess	en
dc.subject	Local actors	en
dc.subject	Reconciliation	en
dc.subject	Displacement	en
dc.subject	Rural Damascus	en
dc.subject	Syria	en
dc.title	Post-reconciliation rural Damascus : are local communities still represented?	en
dc.type	Technical Report	en
dspace.entity.type	Publication
person.identifier.other	44518
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relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery	02026571-cf08-4671-b0cc-08fd62db5d1f