{"title":"Lisa Wedeen","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the insightful works of Lisa Wedeen, an acclaimed scholar whose writings offer fresh perspectives on power, politics, and culture in the Middle East. An essential read for understanding contemporary society.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"ambiguities-of-domination-book-lisa-wedeen-9780226333373","title":"Ambiguities of Domination","description":"Treating rhetoric and symbols as central rather than peripheral to politics, Lisa Wedeen's groundbreaking book offers a compelling counterargument to those who insist that politics is primarily about material interests and the groups advocating for them. During the thirty-year rule of President Hafiz al-Asad's regime, his image was everywhere. In newspapers, on television, and during orchestrated spectacles. Asad was praised as the \"father,\" the \"gallant knight,\" even the country's \"premier pharmacist.\" Yet most Syrians, including those who create the official rhetoric, did not believe its claims. Why would a regime spend scarce resources on a personality cult whose content is patently spurious?  Wedeen shows how such flagrantly fictitious claims were able to produce a politics of public dissimulation in which citizens acted as if they revered the leader. By inundating daily life with tired symbolism, the regime exercised a subtle, yet effective form of power. The cult worked to enforce obedience, induce complicity, isolate Syrians from one another, and set guidelines for public speech and behavior. Wedeen's ethnographic research demonstrates how Syrians recognized the disciplinary aspects of the cult and sought to undermine them. In a new preface, Wedeen discusses the uprising against the Syrian regime that began in 2011 and questions the usefulness of the concept of legitimacy in trying to analyze and understand authoritarian regimes.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49728519504145,"sku":"NGR9780226333373","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50751091147025,"sku":"CIN022633337XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51415581458705,"sku":"CIN022633337XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52701321101585,"sku":"GOR014585548","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/022633337X.jpg?v=1751356930"},{"product_id":"peripheral-visions-book-lisa-wedeen-9780226877914","title":"Peripheral Visions","description":"The government of Yemen remains largely incapable of providing goods and services to its population, but the regime continues to endure despite its fragility in the global order. Revealing what holds Yemen together in such circumstances, this book shows how citizens form national attachments even in the absence of strong state institutions.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49777481842961,"sku":"CIN0226877914G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50312649376017,"sku":"CIN0226877914VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51000315183377,"sku":"NIN9780226877914","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226877914.jpg?v=1751133371"},{"product_id":"ambiguities-of-domination-book-lisa-wedeen-9780226877884","title":"Ambiguities of Domination","description":"In the late-1990s in Syria, the image of President Hafiz al-Asad is everywhere. In newspapers, on television and during orchestrated spectacles Asad is praised as the \"father,\" the \"gallant knight,\" even the country's \"premier pharmacist\". Yet most Syrians, including those who create the official rhetoric, do not believe its claims. Why would a regime spend scarce resources on a cult whose content is patently spurious? Lisa Wedeen concludes that Asad's cult acts as a disciplinary device, generating a politics of public dissimulation in which citizens act \"as if\" they revered their leader. By inundating daily life with tired symbolism, the regime exercises a subtle, yet effective form of power. The cult works to enforce obedience, induce complicity, isolate Syrians from one another and set guidelines for public speech and behaviour. Wedeen's ethnographic research demonstrates how Syrians recognize the disciplinary aspects of the cult and seek to undermine them.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49884471853329,"sku":"CIN0226877884G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50276720476433,"sku":"CIN0226877884VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52728248828177,"sku":"GOR008498994","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226877884.jpg?v=1750738250"},{"product_id":"ambiguities-of-domination-book-lisa-wedeen-9780226877877","title":"Ambiguities of Domination","description":"In the late-1990s in Syria, the image of President Hafiz al-Asad is everywhere. In newspapers, on television, and during orchestrated spectacles Asad is praised as the \"father,\" the \"gallant knight,\" even the country's \"premier pharmacist\". Yet most Syrians, including those who create the official rhetoric, do not believe its claims. Why would a regime spend scarce resources on a cult whose content is patently spurious? Lisa Wedeen concludes that Asad's cult acts as a disciplinary device, generating a politics of public dissimulation in which citizens act \"as if\" they revered their leader. By inundating daily life with tired symbolism, the regime exercises a subtle, yet effective form of power. The cult works to enforce obedience, induce complicity, isolate Syrians from one another, and set guidelines for public speech and behaviour. Wedeen's ethnographic research demonstrates how Syrians recognize the disciplinary aspects of the cult and seek to undermine them.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49910462939409,"sku":"CIN0226877876G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226877876.jpg?v=1750812771"},{"product_id":"authoritarian-apprehensions-book-lisa-wedeen-9780226650609","title":"Authoritarian Apprehensions","description":"If the Arab uprisings initially heralded the end of tyrannies and a move toward liberal democratic governments, their defeat not only marked a reversal but was of a piece with emerging forms of authoritarianism worldwide. In Authoritarian Apprehensions, Lisa Wedeen draws on her decades-long engagement with Syria to offer an erudite and compassionate analysis of this extraordinary rush of events--the revolutionary exhilaration of the initial days of unrest and then the devastating violence that shattered hopes of any quick undoing of dictatorship. Developing a fresh, insightful, and theoretically imaginative approach to both authoritarianism and conflict, Wedeen asks: What led a sizable part of the citizenry to stick by the regime through one atrocity after another? What happens to political judgment in a context of pervasive misinformation? And what might the Syrian example suggest about how authoritarian leaders exploit digital media to create uncertainty, political impasses, and fractures among their citizenries?    Based on extensive fieldwork and drawing material from a variety of Syrian artistic practices, Wedeen lays bare the ideological investments that sustain ambivalent attachments to established organizations of political power and contribute to the ongoing challenge of pursuing political change. This masterful book is a testament to Wedeen's deep engagement with some of the most troubling concerns of our political present and future.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50761639264529,"sku":"CIN022665060XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/022665060X.jpg?v=1751356999"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-lisa-wedeen.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}