22 February 2019 Hirak and Arab Spring Uprisings: The Limits of the Algerian Exception Narrative?

Abstract

This study examines the 22 February 2019 Hirak in Algeria using a trans-disciplinary perspective spanning the sociology of social movements, comparative politics, and international relations. It compares it to the first wave of Arab Spring uprisings (2011), using the “Algerian exception” narrative as an analytical tool for comparison. The paper begins by examining the narrative’s arguments, then debates its limitations. This approach allows for an understanding of the Hirak ’s local particularity that distinguishes it from other Arab uprisings and permits it to be recontextualized as part of a regional social phenomenon, with transnational dynamics and, thus, repercussions.