Thesis advisor: Richard Kearney / This work addresses an important phenomenon in the contemporary philosophy of narrative and coins it as a term. Trigger-narratives denote myth-like stories that ignite certain mass social participation. Juxtapose to five well-established philosophical concepts of narrative this work demonstrates that while trigger-narratives share formal characteristics with all, they fail to be meaningfully and comprehensively subsumed under any. I use three protagonists as comparative case studies to illustrate trigger-narratives: Rosa Parks (US), Mouhammed Bouazizi (Tunisia) and Daphne Leef (Israel). The sociopolitical reaction to trigger-narratives exceeds them in content and in size. Yet, these protagonists continue to serve as catalysts and perennial symbols of the transformative events that follow their protesting acts. Trigger-narratives are not lived-narratives. They do not disclose what Arendt’s refers to as a unique who or MacIntyre’s unity of a human life. They do not answer the ownmost rhythm of Heidegger’s Being-toward-death or operate like Ricoeur’s or Kearney’s concepts of testimony. The protagonist perspective is rarely heard or seriously considered. Unlike historical narratives trigger-narratives are not the product of research. They form quickly and in their aftermath they resist change. Trigger-narrative protagonists draw their power from being portrayed as context-less, weak and uncalculated while historical leaders draw power from descriptions of authority, skill, and deliberation. Trigger-narratives have the effect and/or aspiration of metanarratives. They aim at a new order. However, they spring from articulated singular accounts rather than form an all-encompassing tacit sub-current narrative. Adding a sixth sociological concept of narrative I refer to issue-narratives. Trigger-narratives congeal around an issue. But they instill a far greater expectation for change. I conclude that: 1. trigger narratives are closest to fiction 2. They operate through a condensation of Ricoeur’s mimetic cycle configuring and refiguring reality in a rapid rotation that ossifies them into a mobilizing form, and that 3. Interpreting trigger-narratives through the perspective of world-creating myths illuminates many of their typical characteristics in a unifying, comprehensive manner. The study points to two new research directions: 1. trigger-narratives’ aftermath operations (specifically rituals and newly erected institutions).2. Further interdisciplinary cooperation between contemporary political philosophy of narrative and the sociological methodology of frame-analysis. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Philosophy.

Previous empirical analyses have concluded that political events can have significant linkages with stock returns. Using Brown & Warner’s (1984) OLS market model, I examine the effect of political disruptions in the 2010-2011 Arab uprisings on major stock indices of Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and London. My analysis finds mostly negative abnormal returns, highly statistically significant relative to the S&P 500, associated with many key events between December 1st, 2010 and December 1st, 2011. My findings suggest that the loss of investor wealth can be attributed to dramatic regime changes and large scale protests during that time period.

This thesis examines the attitude of Malaysia’s Islamist movements – (1) The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS); (2) The National Trust Party (AMANAH); (3) The Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM) and (4) the Malaysian Muslim Solidarity Front (ISMA) towards the 2011 Arab Uprisings events or popularly known as the ‘Arab Spring’ in the Middle East and North Africa. In particular, it explores the knowledge and perceptions of selected Islamist movement activists, politicians and members in Malaysia towards the Arab Uprisings as well as considering how the events impact their activism, political approach and attitudes towards the issues of regime change, civil disobedience, political revolution, democracy, Islamism and political stability. This thesis also identifies a number lessons learnt by the Malaysian Islamists from the development of post-Arab Uprisings in the MENA region. The tendency of Malaysian Islamists to be influenced by the development in the Middle East and global political Islam are not seen as something new as evidently shown in the case of the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution. This popular event was known for its indirect impact on the political activism and approaches of PAS and ABIM in Malaysia back in the 1980-1990s, as well as inspiring many Malaysian Islamists to uphold the struggle of establishing an Islamic state in the country. Following the recent uprisings in several Arab states, which also witnesses the rise of Arab Islamist parties in securing a ruling power, these events have also been widely followed by the Malaysians in general and the Islamists in particular with great interest. Furthermore, the major involvement of Malaysian Islamists in a series of mass protests, popularly known in Malaysia as the “Bersih movement” (circa 2011-2016), against the ruling government, were perceived by numerous local and foreign journalists as an attempt to create a “Malaysian Spring” which inspired by the ‘Arab Spring’ phenomenon for the sake of toppling the current regime. However, there have been strong opinions voiced by the Malaysian authorities and various local scholars suggesting that there was no basis for presuming an Arab Uprisings impact in the context of the Malaysian experience. This raises the question of the relationship between the Arab Uprisings and Malaysian Islamists. Nevertheless, no matter how relevant the questions raised between Malaysia’s Islamist movements and the ‘Arab Spring’, the central concern that needs to be highlighted is the extent to which Malaysian Islamists grasp the fundamental issues of the 2011 Arab Uprisings before jumping to any conclusion about the polemics of the “Malaysian Spring”. In so doing, both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied through a questionnaire based-survey which was conducted in Malaysia involving 530 respondents, primarily among the registered and active representative of Malaysian Islamist between the ages of 18 and 45, as well as 15 in-depth interviews with selected Malaysian Islamist activists and leaders ranging from those in opposition political parties (PAS and AMANAH) to those in non-government Islamist organisations (ABIM and ISMA). The survey of Malaysian Islamists’ attitudes towards the Arab Uprisings development covered a variety of dimensions, namely understanding the general issues about the Arab Uprisings’ phenomenon, factors that lead to the Uprisings, the role of Islamist movements, the influences of the Uprisings on Malaysia’s Islamist movements activism and finally lessons learnt from the Arab Uprisings. The data is statistically analysed with the assistance of the SPSS computer package, and by using a number of statistical procedures, such as frequencies and cross-tabulations. The outcome of this research shows that the majority of respondents have an outstanding knowledge on the Arab Uprisings which was mostly obtained via new social media such as Facebook and Twitter, along with mixed perceptions toward the events. Furthermore, they also reached an understanding that the uncertainties in the Arab world would eventually lead to another wave of uprisings in the long term. Speaking of the global impact of the Arab Uprisings events, some elements of political repression, coupled with corruption and power abuses (which some claimed to be practised by the Malaysian regime), led to a number of Malaysian Islamists believing that they were inspired by the acts of mass street protests during the Arab Uprisings. This inspiration came when they witnessed the ousting of several long-serving autocratic Arab rulers in their respective states by the Arab protesters. However, the fear of insecurity and political instability which is currently evident in the post-Arab Uprisings in Egypt, Libya, Syria and the Yemen led to many respondents favouring political stability rather than regime change. Most of the respondents were quite sceptical about the polemics of the “Malaysian Spring” as most of them neither disagreed nor agreed that the series of political rallies by the Bersih movement were an indirect effort to topple the ruling government which was ‘accused’ by several pro-government media, politicians and authorities in Malaysia. Overall, this empirical research found that the majority of Malaysian Islamists from PAS, ABIM, ISMA and AMANAH are supportive of a free and democratic elections as a relevant medium for political change, rather than overthrowing the current regime via civil disobedience, street demonstration, or ‘revolution’.

Cette recherche de doctorat interdisciplinaire examine ce qu’Østergaard-Nielsen (2003) a appelé « homeland politics », c’est-à-dire les activités politiques des migrants et des réfugiés relatives à la politique intérieure ou extérieure de leur pays d’origine. Cette thèse se concentre sur deux études de cas, Vienne et Paris, et les personnes et les groupes qui ont tenté d'influencer la politique pendant et après les soulèvements en Egypte (2011-2013). Mon intérêt porte notamment sur l'identification de ces activistes, de leurs réseaux et des raisons de leur participation politique. Mon deuxième intérêt vise le rôle des médias sociaux comme outil de la contestation transnationale. La thèse est divisée en trois parties. La première adopte une approche macro et trace le contexte dans lequel les pratiques transnationales des migrants égyptiens et leurs enfants ont eu lieu, en mettant l'accent sur les politiques d'émigration, d'immigration et d’intégration. La deuxième partie contient l’analyse de mes données empiriques à un niveau micro et décrit les différents types d’activistes transnationaux, leurs argumentations politiques, leurs réseaux et stratégies. Elle donne également un aperçu de leur utilisation Facebook. La troisième partie est une contribution théorique au transnationalisme politique : elle soulève la question de savoir si nous assistons aujourd'hui à l'émergence d'une société civile transnationale égyptienne et développe ensuite un cadre analytique des déterminants qui influencent la « politique de la patrie ». / This interdisciplinary PhD project examines what Østergaard-Nielsen (2003) calls ‘homeland politics’, namely the political activities of migrants and refugees who aim to influence the domestic or foreign policy of their country of origin. It focuses on two case studies, Vienna and Paris, and examines the people and groups who tried to influence politics during and after the uprisings in Egypt (2011-2013). It focuses particularly on the identification of transnational activists, their networks and their motives of their political participation. It further analyzes the role of social media as a tool for transnational politics. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first adopts a macro-level approach and traces the context in which transnational practices of Egyptian migrants and their children take place, by focusing on emigration, immigration and immigrant policies. The second is an empirical analysis on the micro-level and describes different types of transnational activists, their argumentations, networks, and strategies. This includes a comprehensive analysis of their use of Facebook. The third part is a theoretical contribution to political transnationalism by discussing the limits of Egyptian transnational civil society today and by developing an analytical framework for factors which influence homeland politics.

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