Nonviolent Action in Civil War Borderlands: Evidence from Syrian Facebook

• In Event: Mobilizing and Mobilized Diasporas

Abstract

How and to what extent do refugees engage in non-violent conflict processes? We theorize that refugees can contribute to and produce a locus of nonviolent action in war, together with civilians in the conflict state. We advance our theory by examining Syrians’ civil action in the war that began in 2011. Analyzing an original dataset of millions of posts on public Facebook pages representing Syrian organizations located inside Syria, in border states, in non-border states, and “translocal” combinations thereof, we find that refugees engaged in thematic discourse about the revolution, conflict, and displacement, as well as action-based discourse mobilizing collective action, humanitarian relief, and resource mobilization throughout the war — often jointly with civilians inside the conflict state. Case studies explain how the locus of nonviolence shifts from rebel-held territory or diasporic centers toward refugee-led organizations in border states. Our analysis demonstrates that refugees in the global South and civilians in the conflict state engage actively in civil war processes, even amid violence.

Authors

• Rana B. Khoury, University of Illinois

• Alexandra Arons Siegel, University of Colorado Boulder