ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the formulation and projection of competing narratives on sectarianism in the context of the Syrian Uprising. It relies on instrumentalist and constructivist approaches to the study of ethnicity and sectarianism, rejecting the notion that they are rooted in some cultural or primordial essence. The chapter follows Makdisi's understanding of sectarianism as a process through which a religious identity is politicized as part of a struggle for power. Over the decades the Syrian regime manipulated ethnic and sectarian cleavages in order to preserve and perpetuate its rule, for example by according positions within the army and security forces to a core of Alawites loyal to al-Asad family. The anti-sectarian framing of the Uprising helped the crossing of boundaries between ethnicities and sects, with prominent intellectuals and activists from across the various minority groups – Alawites, Christians, Druze, Ismailis and Kurds – joining the campaign to topple the regime.
