ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the actions, strategies, beliefs, and perceptions of a group of individuals who chose to protest in Syria at the outset of the Arab Spring, and the environment that this protest movement arose in. In Syria, where the government's domination and control over discourse fostered an atmosphere of mistrust among citizens, particularly among those in Damascus and Aleppo, the fruits born from their efforts can most tangibly be seen by examining the behavior of those who attempted to bring about regime change in the immediate aftermath of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. The chapter focuses on Lisa Wedeen's seminal Foucauldian analysis of the Assad regime's battle for hegemony over discourse in Syria. It examines the regime's response to Ali Farzat's cartoons to illustrate the Syrian government's sensitivity to the notion that it, like other governments, could be replaced.
