Joseph Daher – författare

Palestina och palestiniernas öde är ständigt aktuella ämnen. Så har det varit sedan Nakba, katastrofen, när hundratusentals palestinier fördrevs i och med att staten Israel upprättades 1948, och fram till nu med folkmordet på palestinier i Gaza. Joseph Dahers bok beskriver och analyserar Palestinas, sionismens och islamismens historia utifrån en marxistisk utgångspunkt. Daher beskriver hur upprättandet av staten Israel gick till, hur imperialistiska och geopolitiska intressen knutna till oljan påverkat utvecklingen och hur den arabiska nationalismen utvecklats. Han ger en historisk överblick över islams utveckling från 600-talet och en utförlig beskrivning de arabiska nationella organisationerna, från PLO och Fatah till Hamas, deras klassammansättning och deras relationer till reaktionära regimer i regionen. Osloavtalen och andra fredsinitiativ behandlas och han diskuterar lösningar på konflikten. Daher pekar på hur motståndet alltför ofta förlitat sig på reaktionära regimer i området och menar att den arabiska våren måste återupptas och motståndet spridas. Han ser en tvåstatslösning som helt utesluten. Joseph Daher, författare och statsvetare, född i Syrien, numera verksam i Schweiz. Han har bland annat skrivit böckerna Gaza: un génocide en cours (Paris, 2025), Syria After the Uprisings (Pluto, 2019) och Hezbollah: The Political Economy of Lebanon’s Party of God (Pluto, 2016). Han är grundare av bloggen Syria Freedom Forever.

Hezbollah provides a new, grounded analysis of the controversial and misunderstood Lebanese party. Where previous books have focused on aspects of the party’s identity, the military question or its religious discourse, here Joseph Daher presents an alternative perspective, built upon political economy. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in Lebanon and dozens of interviews, as well as new archival and other primary sources, Daher’s analysis confidently positions Hezbollah within socio-economic and political developments in Lebanon and the Middle East. He emphasises Hezbollah’s historic ties with its main sponsor, the Islamic Republic of Iran, its media and cultural wings and its relationship with Western economic policies.Further chapters examine the party’s policies towards workers’ struggles and women’s issues, and its orientation towards the sectarian Lebanese political system. Hezbollah is a well informed and fresh analysis of a topic which remains central to our understanding of one of the world’s most tumultuous and politically unstable regions.

Hezbollah provides a new, grounded analysis of the controversial and misunderstood Lebanese party. Where previous books have focused on aspects of the party’s identity, the military question or its religious discourse, here Joseph Daher presents an alternative perspective, built upon political economy. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in Lebanon and dozens of interviews, as well as new archival and other primary sources, Daher’s analysis confidently positions Hezbollah within socio-economic and political developments in Lebanon and the Middle East. He emphasises Hezbollah’s historic ties with its main sponsor, the Islamic Republic of Iran, its media and cultural wings and its relationship with Western economic policies.Further chapters examine the party’s policies towards workers’ struggles and women’s issues, and its orientation towards the sectarian Lebanese political system. Hezbollah is a well informed and fresh analysis of a topic which remains central to our understanding of one of the world’s most tumultuous and politically unstable regions.

Syria has been at the centre of world news since 2011, following the beginnings of a popular uprising in the country and its subsequent violent repression. Eight years on, Joseph Daher analyses the resilience of the regime and the failings of the uprising, while also taking a closer look at the counter-revolutionary processes that have been undermining the uprising from without and within.Through a sharp reconstruction of the key historical developments, Daher focuses on the reasons behind the transition of a peaceful uprising into a destructive war with multiple regional and international actors. He argues that other approaches have so far neglected a global analysis of the conflict’s economic, social and political characteristics. He also shows that it is impossible to understand the Syrian uprising without a historical perspective dating back to the seizure of power by Hafez al-Assad in 1970.A result of years of research and discussions with activists, students, members of political parties and Syrian academics, this book will be the go-to analysis of Syria for years to come.

Syria has been at the centre of world news since 2011, following the beginnings of a popular uprising in the country and its subsequent violent repression. Eight years on, Joseph Daher analyses the resilience of the regime and the failings of the uprising, while also taking a closer look at the counter-revolutionary processes that have been undermining the uprising from without and within.Through a sharp reconstruction of the key historical developments, Daher focuses on the reasons behind the transition of a peaceful uprising into a destructive war with multiple regional and international actors. He argues that other approaches have so far neglected a global analysis of the conflict’s economic, social and political characteristics. He also shows that it is impossible to understand the Syrian uprising without a historical perspective dating back to the seizure of power by Hafez al-Assad in 1970.A result of years of research and discussions with activists, students, members of political parties and Syrian academics, this book will be the go-to analysis of Syria for years to come.

In 2018, after years of intense military confrontation, the Syrian regime supported by Russia and Iran managed to recapture vast swathes of territory. These territorial gains, however, did not generate a ‘post conflict’ environment and did not trigger a transition from war to peace. Instead, Syria has gradually descended into a state of low-intensity conflict. This phase was characterised by territorial fragmentation, localised episodes of violence, hybrid modes of local governance, expansion of the shadow economy and a grim socio-economic situation. Featuring 15 chapters, this volume brings together a host of scholars and researchers to conduct a comprehensive examination of an overlooked phase of the Syrian conflict, which began in 2018 and culminated in the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Drawing on fieldwork undertaken in Syria, empirical chapters deliberate on research topics organised into three sections. The first part examines the changes in the regime’s power structures and ways it attempted to instrumentalize, co-opt and accommodate various actors to reproduce its domination over society. The second section examines the different modalities of governance, exploring both those established by non-state actors and the state-driven devolution of functions through outsourcing and contestation. The final section analyses the socio-economic situation, investigating topics such as illicit activities, remittances, women's participation in the labour force, and strategies employed by the local population, including returning internally displaced people, to navigate economic challenges. This timely and vital volume utilise field research and adopts micro-based approach to understanding the volatile landscape that dominated Syria in the period leading up to the collapse of the Assad regime

Syria has been at the center of world news since 2011, following the beginnings of a popular uprising in the country and its subsequent violent and murderous repression by the Assad regime. Eight years on, Joseph Daher analyzes the resilience of the regime and the failings of the uprising, while also taking a closer look at the counter revolutionary processes that have been undermining the uprising from without and within.Joseph Daher is the author of Hezbollah: The Political Economy of the Party of God, and founder of the blog Syria Freedom Forever.

Syria has been at the center of world news since 2011, following the beginnings of a popular uprising in the country and its subsequent violent and murderous repression by the Assad regime. Eight years on, Joseph Daher analyzes the resilience of the regime and the failings of the uprising, while also taking a closer look at the counter revolutionary processes that have been undermining the uprising from without and within.Joseph Daher is the author of Hezbollah: The Political Economy of the Party of God, and founder of the blog Syria Freedom Forever.