The Syrian city of Raqqa has become famous since the Islamic State declared the Caliphate within its boundaries in January 2014. What is less known, is that the city freed itself from the Syrian regime in March 2013 with the support of the Free Syrian Army and Jabat al Nusra. A local council was created and managed to reorganize the municipal services, and edited municipal liflets. Raqqa was the administrative center of the Euphrates Project in the 1970’s which included the building of three dams, bridges and state-farm villages. The local former semi-nomadic tribes managed to gain some political power by entering the Bath party. As the agrarian reform was only partly implemented, the major urban landlords families maintained their economical power. But without gaining political power. The intellectuals then took pride in the fact that the city was the only free Arab city in Faysal short-lived empire, from 1919 until decembre 1921, when the French Army took the city back.

The talk will focus on the historical transition of the city of Raqqa, emphasizing local power dynamics and implications for the governance of the city.