Reconstruction as Violence in Syria

by Nasser Rabbat (Editor), Hashim Sarkis (Foreword by), Pascal Menoret (Editor), Deen Sharp (Editor), Noura Wahby (Editor)

Overview

A sustained critique of postwar reconstruction in Syria as a politically neutral process

In 2011, emboldened by the Arab Spring, the Syrians rose up against their government. The Syrian regime used violence to suppress the protests, so that what began as pro-democracy protests eventually morphed into a civil war with heavy outside intervention. Today, the regime has regained partial control of the country, but large parts of it lie in ruins, millions of Syrians are displaced, and the economy is in freefall. Reconstruction as Violence delves into the complex interplay of post-conflict reconstruction in Syria, challenging the traditionally held dichotomy between the end of violence and the commencement of rebuilding.

The contributors to this volume—architects, urbanists, geographers, and historians—employ critical concepts such as urbicide, domicide, and “civilian crisis architecture” to argue against the conventional theoretical frameworks that support a neat separation of phases. They illustrate how reconstruction often extends the dynamics of conflict into the urban and social realms, suggesting that the built environment becomes a battleground for further violence. They emphasize the importance of acknowledging the historical, economic, societal, legal, and bureaucratic contexts that shape reconstruction efforts, arguing for initiatives that prioritize equity, inclusivity, and community participation.

Reconstruction as Violence starkly underscores the authors’ stance that to overlook any of these dimensions, or to disengage from the reconstruction process altogether, represents a political choice with potentially detrimental effects on Syria and beyond in the Arab world, where countries like Palestine, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Lebanon, and Sudan are undergoing similar cycles of destruction and rebuilding. It calls for a reimagined approach to reconstruction, one that fosters peace, resilience, and social justice in post-conflict societies.

Contributors:
Sawsan Abou Zainedin, Madaniya, London, UK
Ammar Azzouz, University of Oxford, UK
Valérie Clerc, Université Paris Cité, France
Emma Katherine DiNapoli, human rights lawyer, London, UK
Omar Ferwati, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
Rim Lababidi, architect and independent scholar, Ohio, USA
Wendy Pullan, University of Cambridge, UK
Nasser Rabbat, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Hashim Sarkis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Deen Sharp, London School of Economics, UK
Heghnar Watenpaugh, University of California Davis, CA, USA

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781649034144
Publisher:	American University in Cairo Press, The
Publication date:	04/22/2025
Series:	Middle East Urban Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272

About the Author

Nasser Rabbat (Edited by) is the Aga Khan Professor and Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT. His interests include Islamic architecture, urban history, heritage studies, Arab history, contemporary Islamic art, and post-colonial criticism. He has published numerous articles and several books on topics ranging from Mamluk architecture to Antique Syria, nineteenth-century Cairo, Orientalism, and urbicide. His most recent books are ‘Imarat al-Mudun al-Mayyita (The Architecture of the Dead Cities, 2018), and an online book, The Destruction of Cultural Heritage: From Napoléon to ISIS, co-edited with Pamela Karimi (2016). His book on the great fifteenth century Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi came out in late 2022.

Deen Sharp (Edited by) is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science in Geography and Environment. He was formerly a fellow at the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is the co-editor of Beyond the Square: Urbanism and the Arab Uprisings (Urban Research, 2016) and Open Gaza: Architectures of Hope (American University in Cairo Press, 2021). He has written for a number of publications, including, Jadaliyya, Portal 9, MERIP, Arab Studies Journal and the Guardian. He has worked for several UN agencies, including UNDP and UN-Habitat, governments and international NGOs.

Nasser Rabbat is the Aga Khan Professor and Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT. His interests include Islamic architecture, urban history, heritage studies, Arab history, contemporary Islamic art, and post-colonial criticism. He has published numerous articles and several books on topics ranging from Mamluk architecture to Antique Syria, 19th century Cairo, Orientalism, and urbicide. His most recent books are ‘Imarat al-Mudun al-Mayyita (The Architecture of the Dead Cities, 2018), and an online book, The Destruction of Cultural Heritage: From Napoléon to ISIS, co-edited with Pamela Karimi (2016). His book on the great fifteenth century Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi came out from Edinburgh University Press in late 2022. He is currently editing a book on the cultural history of Syria (Edinburgh University Press, 2023.). His next book project is a history of Mamluk Cairo, which is under contract with AUC Press.
Deen Sharp is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science in Geography and Environment. He was formerly a fellow at the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is the co-editor of Beyond the Square: Urbanism and the Arab Uprisings (Urban Research, 2016) and Open Gaza: Architectures of Hope (American University in Cairo Press, 2021). He is the co-editor of a third book Reconstruction as Violence: The Case of Syria (American University in Cairo Press, Forthcoming). He has written for a number of publications, including, Jadaliyya, Portal 9, MERIP, Arab Studies Journal and the Guardian. He has worked for several UN agencies, including UNDP and UN-Habitat, governments and international NGOs.
Hashim Sarkis (Foreword) is Dean of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning and the author or editor of several books and articles, including Circa 1958: Lebanon in the Pictures and Plans of Constantinos Doxiadis (2003)and Le Corbusier’s Venice Hospital (2001).

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors
List of Illustrations

Foreword: The Tell of Aleppo
Hashim Sarkis

Introduction: Reconstruction as Violence
Nasser Rabbat and Deen Sharp

1. What Reconstruction?: History, Politics, and Clashing Identities
Nasser Rabbat

2. War by Other Means: Reconstruction
Wendy Pullan

3. Rethinking Reconstruction through Informal Settlements
Valérie Clerc

4. War Waged in Space and Law: Reconstituting Authoritarianism in “Post-Conflict” Syria
Emma DiNapoli

5. Constructing the Endo and Exo-Colonization of Syria
Deen Sharp

6. How Assad Seized the Myth of a Homogenous Syria
Sawsan Abou Zainedin

7. “A History of Cultural Heritage in Aleppo: A Contested Terrain”
Heghnar Watenpaugh

8. “Reconstruction in Old Aleppo: People and Politics after the War”
Rim Lababidi

9. Civilian Crisis Architecture: How People Survived in Aleppo
Omar Ferwati

10. Domicide: Reconstruction as the Destruction of Home
Ammar Azzouz