Romanticizing masculinity in Baathist Syria

This book provides a novel analysis of the conceptual sources and ideological contours of the Assad regime.

Romanticizing Masculinity in Baathist Syria documents the Baathists' fascination with romanticised and 'muscular' ideas of the nation that emerged in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European social philosophy. It traces the implementation and impacts of these ideologies in the Syrian context.

Emphasising the emergence of new forms of public gendered identity in Syria as a unifying feature of nationalism, the book links these concepts closely with the stability of the regime. It shows how romantic, muscular nationalism first rose to hegemony and was subsequently shattered by its inherent violence, contradictions, and inequalities.

The final chapter considers how a new vision of pluralism and civic belonging is today challenging the romanticised Baathist ideal in contention for Syria's future.