Author: Saladdin Ahmed CriticalLegathinking.com 

From Iran, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, and Syria to the countries of North Africa, such as Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the anger, the desire to change the unbearable reality, the mass movement, and the process of reorganization of the political space are all present. What seems to be lacking, however, is a progressive revolutionary ideology that would be capable of not only abolishing direct political suppression, but also reshaping the exploitative social relations. The peoples of Near East and North Africa have the capacity and the will to change their world, but how big will that change be? Is it too unrealistic to expect a revolution that could reshape societies fundamentally, i.e. not only the representatives of the ideological superstructure, but also the relations of production, to use Marx’s terminology? If this is a progressive revolution, will it be able to exceed the aim of abolishing dictatorial regimes to create a more radical transformation of the societies of the Middle East? I think so far what is lacking is a grand progressive ideology, but is it possible for a new social and political vision to be emerging as the cross-national revolution continues? That is the hope. This article however, for the most part, expresses the less optimistic interpretation of what seems to be happening. Part of what determines the boundaries and the nature of a historical event at the moment of its occurrence is our (we who do support the event) own expectations, interpretations, utopias, criticisms, and doubts. My own wish is that this movement will not only target the dictators and their institutional apparatuses, but the entire exploitative social order including class and racial relations. Read the rest of this entry »