The transition of the self through the Arab Spring in Egypt and Libya

Al-Abdin, Ahmed; Dean, Dianne; Nicholson, John

Abstract

This paper builds on Belk's notions of the extended, social, family and dialogic selves in an attempt to explore the transformation of the self during the Arab Spring phenomena. From the perspective of the respondents in Egypt and Libya, this paper provides a reading of how images of self are related to artifacts of consumption, rituals, and symbols and how consumer values are navigated through this difficult landscape. The paper uses a three phase history, happening, and hopes narratives to show that the self in a liminal period of flux is referent to history and hopes and proposes a notion of a transitional self that incorporates this observation of reference to past and future. In particular, the findings suggest that consumption, especially Western consumption can be transcendental during a liminal period of flux and that such revelatory incidents offer an opportunity to access the candid thoughts of consumers.

Citation

Al-Abdin, A., Dean, D., & Nicholson, J. (2016). The transition of the self through the Arab Spring in Egypt and Libya. Journal of business research, 69(1), 45-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.07.019

• Acceptance Date: Jun 1, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Aug 18, 2015
• Publication Date: 2016-01
• Deposit Date: Dec 3, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 23, 2017
• Journal: Journal of business research
• Print ISSN: 0148-2963
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 69
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 45-56
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.07.019
• Keywords: Self; Extended self; Consumption practices; Revolution; Middle East; Transitional self
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/382183
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296315003100
• Additional Information: Authors' accepted manuscript of article published in: Journal of business research, 2016, v.69, issue 1
• Contract Date: Nov 23, 2017