The apprehensive republic: de-democratising the 2011 Yemeni uprising

© 2016 Dr. Kamilia Al-ErianiIn popular discourse, the 2011 Yemen Uprising (often subsumed under the “Arab Spring” in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere) was frequently portrayed as “largely secular” but later hijacked by the religious forces. Academics long critical of the religious-secular dichotomy, called such a portrayal into question. However, seldom did they interrogate or/and tell us the effect of that dichotomy, for instance, in the case of the 2011 Yemeni Uprising. Building on the writings of Talal Asad, Hussein Agrama and drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s and Jacques Rancière’s works, I ask: what was the effect of the religious-secular dichotomy on the 2011 Yemeni Uprising? To address this question the thesis undertakes a close examination of the Yemeni Uprising from its beginning in February 2011 to February 2012 when it was thwarted. It focuses on the people’s protests in Ta’izz al-Ḥurrīah Square—a key site of democratic mobilisation—, the long democratic protest from Ta’izz that galvanised people across the country (the Life March), the responses to the protests by the Yemeni state, the regional (Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC]) states, as well as, the UNSC, the US, the UK and the EU. Through an inquiry into these three sites, the thesis argues that the national, regional and international elites’ imposition of the secular-religious dichotomy led to the de-democratisation of the Yemeni polity in the name of securing the life of the weak state of Yemen. This culminated in the implementation of the GCC Initiative, backed by the US, the EU, the UK and the United Nation Security Council (UNSC). This de-democratisation was mediated by a political culture of apprehension. I trace the emergence of this culture to the birth of the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) in 1962. I show how this culture preserved and sustained itself through constant production of secular-religious distinction associated with the life of the new Republic and securing its own stability. The Yemeni Uprising should be seen, I propose, as a dissensus in this historically embedded culture of apprehension. I also examine how the Yemeni state sought to de-mobilise the protests by rehabilitating and circulating apprehension and suspicion. The thesis illustrates how this de-democratising culture is not innate to the Yemeni state. Rather, it is part of a larger global phenomenon that binds the weak (Yemen) and strong (US, KSA) states in a relation of mutual dependency necessary for their existence. Finally, the thesis attempts to find a possibility for democracy of the people outside this culture. In doing so, I examine the Life March that crossed 267 km from Ta’izz to Sana’a and mobilised tens of thousands across the country to challenge the GCC-Initiative