ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an insight into the misunderstood dynamics of local governance in non-government-controlled parts of Syria between years 2011 and 2014. It pays particular attention to the agency of civil society vis-à-vis other local and international state building interests. Based on a theoretical framework centred on the notion of “hybridity”, it analyses the extent to which governance is a hybrid of local and international forces along three dimensions: effectiveness, legitimacy and security. It takes as its case study three non-government-controlled-areas in Syria: Al-Raqqa, Deir Ezzor and Aleppo. With a historical and contextual snapshot of the changing dynamics during conflict in these areas, it studies the agency of civil society versus other more powerful local governance actors. The cases are supported by data from an intensive qualitative and quantitative field research of over six months lasting until May 2014. The research findings suggest that while the different factors, forces and interests in the Syrian conflict coexist and interact, both the old and the new, the grass-roots and the top-down, the civil and the uncivil governance become hybridised. The result would create unbalanced governance in Syria that will impact the Syrian future peace and state (re)formation.
