FORGING A LIBYAN IDENTITY: THE EVOLUTION AND STRUGGLES OF A DIVERSE NATION

Mohamed A. Ahmida Abdulnabi

Abstract


This article examines the origins and evolution of Libyan cultural identity, shaped by diverse historical forces and ongoing internal divisions. Libya's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean exposed it to successive colonisations by Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and Arabs over centuries, creating a layered identity. Key aspects include the importance of Islam and Arab culture and regional, tribal, and ethnic diversity. Expression of Libyan identity can be seen in areas like cuisine, music, and traditional arts. However, forging a unified national identity continues to be hindered by tribal/regional affiliations, the legacy of oppression under Gaddafi and instability since the 2011 revolution. The article analyses how Libya's richly diverse heritage and cleavages pose challenges in establishing social cohesion and collective identity.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


Libya, Libyan identity, Arab culture, Berber culture, tribal identity, regional identity, colonialism, Ottoman Empire, Italian colonisation, Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan revolution, civil war, national identity, unity

Full Text:

PDF

References


Ahmida, A. A. (1994). The making of modern Libya: state formation, colonisation, and resistance, 1830-1932. SUNY Press. Retrieved from https://sunypress.edu/Books/T/The-Making-of-Modern-Libya2

Alexander, Y. (2012). Particular update report terrorism in North, West, & Central Africa: from 9/11 to the Arab Spring. International Center for Terrorism Studies, 3, 1-52.‏

Ayalon, A. (1995). The press in the Arab Middle East: A history. Studies in Middle Eastern Hist.‏ Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://nes.princeton.edu/publications/press-arab-middle-east-history

Barfi, B., & Pack, J. (2012). In War’s Wake. The Struggle for Post-Qadhafi Libya. Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Washington institute. Available at: http://www.org/policy-analysis/view/in-wars-wake-the-struggle-for-post-qadhafi-libya (accessed 2 April 2016).‏

Bergman, B. P., Burdett, H. J., & Greenberg, N. (2014). Service life and beyond–institution or culture? The RUSI Journal, 159(5), 60-68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2014.969946, Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03071847.2014.969946

De Donno, F., & Srivastava, N. (2006). Colonial and postcolonial Italy.‏ International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, 8(3), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13698010600955875, Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13698010600955875

Elbendak, O. E. (2008). Urban transformation and social change in a Libyan city: An anthropological study of Tripoli (Doctoral dissertation, National University of Ireland Maynooth). Retrieved from https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Urban-transformation-and-social-change-in-a-Libyan-Elbendak/767eaf97fe2446ace9c16bdcb9e4b834a969ddd5

Gaub, F. (2014). Libya after Gaddafi: Lessons and implications. Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press.

Lacher, W. (2016). Libya’s local elites and the politics of alliance building. Mediterranean Politics, 21(1), 64-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2015.1081451, Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13629395.2015.1081451

Mattingly, D. J. et al. (2003). Background to the archaeology of Fazzān. In The Archaeology of Fazzān. vol. 1, Synthesis (pp. 1–37). Society for Libyan Studies London. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360922387_BACKGROUND_TO_THE_ARCHAEOLOGY_OF_FAZZAN

McGrath, B. (2022). Crypto-Colonialism and The Internationalization of Architectural Education. The Routledge Companion to Architectural Pedagogies of the Global South.‏ Routledge, Retrieved from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003018841-27/crypto-colonialism-internationalization-architectural-education-brian-mcgrath

Panzac, D. (2005). Barbary corsairs: The end of a legend, 1800-1820. Leiden: Brill. Retrieved from https://brill.com/display/title/7765?language=en

Pargeter, A. (2012). Libya: The rise and fall of Qaddafi. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1nq817

Quinn, C. P. (2021). In search of the Phoenicians. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Retrieved from https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691175270/in-search-of-the-phoenicians

Vandewalle, D. (2012). A history of modern Libya. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/history-of-modern-libya/83CEF8FC8ED364E5946C40A3AC54E008

Wehrey, F. (2014). Ending Libya's civil war: Reconciling politics, rebuilding security. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved from https://carnegieendowment.org/2014/09/24/ending-libya-s-civil-war-reconciling-politics-rebuilding-security-pub-56741

Zoubir, Y. H. (2009). Libya and Europe: economic realism at the rescue of the Qaddafi authoritarian regime. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 17(3), 401-415. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14782800903339354, Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14782800903339354




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejpss.v6i3.1642

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2024 Mohamed A. Ahmida Abdulnabi

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The research works published in this journal are free to be accessed. They can be shared (copied and redistributed in any medium or format) and\or adapted (remixed, transformed, and built upon the material for any purpose, commercially and\or not commercially) under the following terms: attribution (appropriate credit must be given indicating original authors, research work name and publication name mentioning if changes were made) and without adding additional restrictions (without restricting others from doing anything the actual license permits). Authors retain the full copyright of their published research works and cannot revoke these freedoms as long as the license terms are followed.

Copyright © 2017 - 2023. European Journal Of Political Science Studies (ISSN 2601-2766) is a registered trademark. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library. All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and standards formulated by Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002), the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing (2003) and  Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003) and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Copyrights of the published research works are retained by authors.


 

Hit counter