The impulse for the recent transformations in the Arab world came from the Maghreb. Research on the region has been on the rise since, yet much remains to be done when it comes to interdisciplinary comparative research. The Maghreb is a heterogeneous region that deserves thorough investigation. This volume focuses on Entanglements as a cross-field and cross-lingual concept to generate a new approach to the region and its inner interdependencies as well as exchanges with other regions. Eminent researchers conceptualize Entanglements through the description of various thematic fields and actors in motion, addressing culture, politics, social affairs, and economics.

This edited volume is an open access title and assembles both the historical consciousness and transformation of the MENA region in various disciplinary and topical facets. At the same time, it aims to go beyond the MENA region, contributing to critical debates on area studies while pointing out transregional and cultural references in a broad and comparative manner.

Der Beitrag diskutiert die Rolle der Mittelschichten in den Transformationsprozessen der arabischen Welt in der jungeren Geschichte. Rachid Ouaissa vertritt die These, dass die arabischen Mittelschichten zwar die Haupttrager von Protesten sind, jedoch keine strukturellen Druckmittel besitzen, um Demokratisierung durchzusetzen. Denn im Gegensatz zu den profitorientierten europaischen Mittelschichten sind die arabischen Mittelschichten klientelisiert und rentenorientiert."