{"id":398,"date":"2017-09-10T10:43:56","date_gmt":"2017-09-10T14:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/?p=398"},"modified":"2025-07-25T11:26:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T15:26:58","slug":"arab-spring-fishballs-and-umbrellas-the-rise-of-politically-incorrect-nomenclature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/2017\/arab-spring-fishballs-and-umbrellas-the-rise-of-politically-incorrect-nomenclature\/","title":{"rendered":"Arab Spring, fishballs, and umbrellas: The rise of politically incorrect nomenclature (part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Arab Spring, fishballs, and umbrellas: The rise of politically incorrect nomenclature (part 1)\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

I remember when sitting in a fourth year seminar class here at Carleton, listening to students engaged in a discussion on contemporary issues that arose from the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa\/Maghreb (MENA). One thought I couldn\u2019t keep out of my mind was: why is it called the \u201cArab Spring\u201d? Afraid of speaking up and revealing my foolishness on seemingly conventional knowledge, I never asked. I now know that this may not have been such a silly question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perusing Google, I came across Maytha Alhassen\u2019s work in The Huffington Post asking us to \u201cPlease Reconsider the Term \u2018Arab Spring\u2019\u201d<\/a>. Alhassen states that \u201cit is worth critically examining the way we in the West have come to describe these revolutions, resistance movements and uprisings in the region<\/a>\u201d and that \u201cEven esteemed MENA academics and some Arabic press have disappointingly re-appropriated the term<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the core of Alhassen\u2019s<\/a> argument is misrepresentation and miscommunication. To understand these issues further, I recommend reading the entire article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Taking Alhassen\u2019s suggestion, I started seeing similar patterns, where Western media gives a unique spin on the names associated to social movements internationally. For example, Hong Kong\u2019s Umbrella Revolution<\/a> in 2014, and Fishball Revolution<\/a> in 2016. Of course, these movements are about much more than just umbrellas and fishballs. They\u2019re tied to regional cultural, historical, political, and economic issues. But just as with the Boston Tea Party, the popular nomenclature of events and movements are catchy and entice viewers to read more and thereby (hopefully), understand more. These names may not be politically correct per se, but they are definitely more eye-catching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But again, this is all part of the framing processes that organize social movements in order to give them instant public recognition. If all social movements and revolutionary names had to be politically correct, we would have a difficult time differentiating them by name, unless they were categorized by date \u2013 but that wouldn\u2019t excite headlines, right? There may be some individuals who read the Umbrella Revolution and assume Hong Kong is fighting over a shortage of umbrellas \u2013 but honestly, I think they\u2019ll Google it and see for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image URL: https:\/\/blog.library.villanova.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/11.11.01-arab-spring-image-small1.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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