Every day peace: the ignored role of Civil Society in the Syrian Uprising

This paper discusses the role of civil society in the Syrian war between 2012 and 2016, specifically in the so-called "liberated areas" under the control of the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian opposition. A postdoctoral research project of Copenhagen University between 2014 and 2016, has investigated the role of citizen video journalists and peaceful activists in the Syrian uprisings. Responding to the humanitarian situation, Syrian activist groups and Community Based Organisations (CSOs) have become active in distributing food aid and providing medical, educational and other services in areas under the control of the Free Syrian Army. Much of the audiovisual data set contain graphic footage of war events and experiences, however a sizeable part of the video material uploaded from Syria also contain reports of meetings, local elections and institutional buildup. This indicates the democratic experiments taking place in these geographical areas inside Syria. The research methodology is based on image research and semi-structure interviews with civil society actors. The author maps out the important role that peaceful civil society activists have played since the beginning of the Syrian uprisings in 2011. Civil society groups are still active in Syria and continue to play a crucial role in resisting both the rule of extremist Islamic groups inside Syria as well as the authoritarian regime of Bashar al-Assad