Why is “Syrian identity” no longer a unifying and convincing framework for many of Syria’s inhabitants? What is the problem with our understanding of “Syrian nationalism”? Sami al-Kayyal meets with Khulud Zughayyar, a specialist in the sociology of knowledge and the author of the book “Syria: State and Identity,” to discuss the history of the formation of Syrian identity and Syrian nationalism, the main stages they have gone through, and their development up to the present day. Was Syrian nationalism really a unifying framework? Did it transcend sectarianism and nationalist chauvinism? What is its relationship to the concepts of “Arabism” and “Islam”? And how did the idea of “Syria” arise in the first place? This leads to the question of whether there is a structural flaw in “Syrian nationalism” that continually drives Syria’s inhabitants into extremely violent conflicts. Can Syrian nationalism be reformed or transcended? What possible alternatives are there? Watch the fourth episode of the sixth season of the program “Public Space.”
