Reconstruction as Violence in Assad's Syria
Published on 19. August 2025
Book
Hardback
262 pages
978-1-64903-413-7 (ISBN)
Description
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 Assad regime has fallen, but large parts of the country 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
Valerie Clerc, Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, 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
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 Assad regime has fallen, but large parts of the country 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
Valerie Clerc, Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, 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
Reviews / Votes
"A critical and thought-provoking examination. . . .Illuminating the complexities and power dynamics of post-conflict governance. it is an essential resource in both the Syrian context and beyond." -LSE Review of Books"Reconstruction As Violence in Assad's Syria intervenes in this moment, arguing that reconstruction functioned less as recovery than as an extension of violence-in the form of urbicide, dispossession, and spatial engineering. . . . The strength of the book lies in its clear articulation of reconstruction as a continuation of wartime violence rather than a pathway out of it. . . . the book offers a powerful reminder that reconstruction is not a neutral technical exercise but a political project capable of extending and reframing violence."-Review of Middle East Studies
"By examining Syria's past and how reconstruction can be manipulated, the book offers unique insights into war and post-war revitalisation efforts, which will interest both Syria scholars and those studying other post-conflict countries."-The New Arab
"This is an immensely important work and particularly timely as it emerges after the fall of the Assad regime. Whether Syria is restored or reconstructed, this no longer need be viewed as violence as long as Syrians, both in the country and abroad, are part of the process of recovering from the existential challenges that the country has most recently faced."-Dawn Chatty, University of Oxford
"In post-Assad Syria, a country grappling with recovery, this book is more timely than ever. Reconstruction as Violence in Assad's Syria challenges conventional narratives that frame reconstruction as merely an act of development. It reveals the entanglement of destruction and construction, highlighting how violence shapes urban space, built heritage, memory, and citizenship. Through the book's chapters, we come to understand how architecture takes shape as an act of either sustaining or resisting oppressive structures in Syria's evolving socio-political landscape-one shaped by both hope and anticipation."-Wesam Al Asali, IE School of Architecture and Design
"This long-awaited work by a significant and unique group of Syrian and non-Syrian scholars, practitioners, and activists synthesizes their collective visions based on long-term experience and collaborations in different contexts. Arising from a pivotal moment in Syrian history after the collapse of the Assad regime, this work should inspire readers not only to reconsider the past through reconstruction as an act of violence but also the present through reconstruction as a form of transitional justice and the future through reconstruction as a pathway to peace."-Ahmad Sukkar, University of Sharjah and Damascus University
"The essays in this volume demonstrate how the Assad regime engaged in urbicide not merely as an unintended consequence of military victory, but as a deliberate strategy to remake Syria's social fabric and render it more homogeneous and more pliant. Sharply written, theoretically sophisticated, and factually grounded, the chapters problematize the conventional distinction between wartime destruction and post-conflict reconstruction while never losing sight of ordinary Syrians whose homes-and lives-have been shattered by violence."-Daniel Neep, Brandeis University
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
With printed dust jacket
Illustrations
41 b&w illus.; Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
548 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64903-413-7 (9781649034137)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Nasser Rabbat | Deen Sharp
Reconstruction as Violence in Assad's Syria
E-Book
08/2025
Princeton University Press
€77.99
Available for download
Persons
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 Napoleon 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 Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science. 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.
Deen Sharp (Edited by) is a visiting fellow at the Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science. 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.
Content
List of Illustrations
Contributors
Foreword: The Tell of Aleppo
Hashim Sarkis
Introduction: Reconstruction as Violence
Nasser Rabbat and Deen Sharp
1. What Reconstruction?: History, Politics, and Clashing Identities in Syria
Nasser Rabbat
2. War by Other Means: Reconstruction in Syria
Wendy Pullan
3. Rethinking Reconstruction through Informal Settlements
Valerie Clerc
4. War Waged in Space and Law: Advancing Urbicide with Regulatory "Weapons"
Emma DiNapoli
5. Constructing the Endo and Exo-Colonization of Syria
Deen Sharp
6. Assad and the Mythology 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. Survival Architecture in Aleppo
Omar Ferwati
10. Domicide: Reconstruction and Re-Destruction of Home
Ammar Azzouz
Contributors
Foreword: The Tell of Aleppo
Hashim Sarkis
Introduction: Reconstruction as Violence
Nasser Rabbat and Deen Sharp
1. What Reconstruction?: History, Politics, and Clashing Identities in Syria
Nasser Rabbat
2. War by Other Means: Reconstruction in Syria
Wendy Pullan
3. Rethinking Reconstruction through Informal Settlements
Valerie Clerc
4. War Waged in Space and Law: Advancing Urbicide with Regulatory "Weapons"
Emma DiNapoli
5. Constructing the Endo and Exo-Colonization of Syria
Deen Sharp
6. Assad and the Mythology 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. Survival Architecture in Aleppo
Omar Ferwati
10. Domicide: Reconstruction and Re-Destruction of Home
Ammar Azzouz