The intifadah in Shinafiyah: how a small village in Iraq revolted against Saddam Hussein in 1991.

Abstract

This thesis is a study of the origins, causes, and unfolding of the 1991 uprising from the perspective of the Iraqi village of Shinafiyah between 1979 and 1991. This thesis aims to understand how ordinary people in authoritarian societies, who are violently prohibited from organizing themselves and communicating their dissatisfaction with the regime, can erupt in mass uprisings against that same regime when the opportunity presents itself. The main argument of this thesis is that collectively challenging a repressive state is a high-risk decision that demands complex coordination facilitated by a supportive infrastructure and a deep understanding of one’s society and politics, rather than a spontaneous reaction to oppression or an expression of grievances. This study of ordinary Iraqis in Shinafiyah demonstrates that people engaged in regular and small-scale regime contestation by merely living their day-to-day lives. The many interactions that people had with the Iraqi state unintentionally helped build important mobilization structures containing an ideology, a network, and an infrastructure, all of which were vital for the eruption of the uprising in 1991. This thesis demonstrates that the mobilization structures combined with the relative deprivation Iraqis experienced in 1989 facilitated the exploitation of the political opportunity for a revolt in 1991. To better understand the origins of uprisings in authoritarian societies, the study of individualized regime contestation in the daily life of ordinary people and its relation to the unintended formation of mobilization structures is vital.