Seminar No. I (August 17th, at UiO): Introduction - What is Research?
[REQUIRED READING]
- Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. 3rd ed. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press, 2008. [pages 1-276].
Seminar No. II (August 19th, at UiO): What is Research? (cont.)
[REQUIRED READING]
- Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. 3rd ed. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press, 2008. [pages 1-276].
Seminar No. III (August 24th at UiO): Neopatriarchy and Gender
[REQUIRED READING]:
- Sharabi, Hisham. “Cultural Critics of Contemporary Arab Society”. Arab Studies Quarterly 9, no. 1 (1987): 1-19. [Available via Fronter].
- Badran, Margot. “Islam, Patriarchy, and Feminism in the Middle East”. Trends in History 4, no. 1 (1986): 49-71.
- Roald, Anne Sofie. “‘Benevolent Patriarchy’: Palestinian Women between ‘Ideal’ and ‘Reality’”. Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations 24, no. 3 (2013): 333-347.
- Bahramitash, Roksana & Jennifer C. Olmsted. “Choice and Constraint in paid work: Women from low-income households in Tehran”. Feminist Economics 20, no. 4 (2014): 260-280.
Seminar No. IV (August 26th at UiO): The Rentier State
[REQUIRED READING]
- Beblawi, Hazem. “The rentier state in the Arab world”. Arab Studies Quarterly 9, no. 4 (1987): 383-398. [Available via Fronter].
- Skocpol, Theda. “Rentier state and Shi'a Islam in the Iranian Revolution”. Theory and society 11, no. 3 (1982): 265-283.
- Hertog, Steffen. “The Sociology of the Gulf Rentier Systems: Societies of Intermediaries”. Comparative Studies in Society and History 52, no. 2 (2010): 282-318.
- Ross, Michael L. “Does Oil Hinder Democracy?”, World Politics 53, no. 3 (2001): 325-361.
Seminar No. V-VI (August 30th – September 2rd at Granavolden Hotel): Authoritarianism in the Middle East and the Arab Spring Surprise
[SELECT THREE ARTICLES for individual reading and presentation for group discussions).
Explaining Authoritarianism in the Middle East
- Hinnebusch, Raymond. “Authoritarian persistence, democratization theory and the Middle East: An overview and critique”, Democratization 13, no. 3 (2006): 373-395.
- Posusney, Marsha Pripstein. “Enduring Authoritarianism: Middle East Lessons for Comparative Theory”. Comparative Politics 36, no. 2 (2004): 127-138.
- Bellin, Eva. “The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Exceptionalism in Comparative Perspective”. Comparative Politics 36, no. 2 (2004): 139-157.
- King, Stephen J. “Sustaining Authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa”. Political Science Quarterly 122, no. 3 (2007): 433-459.
- Niblock, Tim. “Democratization: a theoretical and practical debate”. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 25, no. 2 (1998): 221-233.
- Schlumberger, Oliver. “The Arab Middle East and the question of democratization: Some critical remarks”. Democratization 7, no. 4 (2000): 104-132.
- Guazzone, Laura and Daniela Pioppi. “Globalisation and the Restructuring of State Power in the Arab World”. The International Spectator: Italian Journal of International Affairs 42, no. 4 (2007): 509-523.
Why the Arab Uprisings
- Gause III, F. Gregory. “Why Middle East Studies Missed the Arab Spring: The Myth of Authoritarian Stability”. Foreign Affairs 90, no. 4 (2011): 81-90.
- Valbj?rn, Morten and Frédéric Volpi. “Revisiting Theories of Arab Politics in the Aftermath of the Arab Uprisings”. Mediterranean Politics 19, no. 1 (2014): 134-136.
- Campante, Filipe R. and Davin Chor. “Why was the Arab World Poised for Revolution? Schooling, Economic Opportunities, and the Arab Spring”. The Journal of Economic Perspectives 26, no. 2 (2012): 167-187.
- Kurzman, Charles. “The Arab Spring Uncoiled”. Mobilization: An International Journal 17, no. 4 (2012): 377-390.
- Pearlman, Wendy. “Emotions and the Microfoundations of the Arab Uprisings”, Perspectives on Politics 11, no. 2 (2013): 387-409.
- Schwedler, Jillian. “Islamists in Power? Inclusion, Moderation, and the Arab Uprisings”. Middle East Development Journal 5, no. 1 (2013): 1350006-1-1350006-18.
- Owen, Roger. “The Political Economy of Arab Presidents for Life — And After”. Middle East Development Journal 5, no. 1 (2013): 1350001-1-1350001-13.
- Zubaida, Sami. “The ‘Arab Spring’ in the historical perspectives of Middle East politics”. Economy and Society 41, no. 4) (2012): 568-579.
- Hinnebusch, Raymond. “Historical Sociology and the Arab Uprising”. Mediterranean Politics 19, no. 1 (2014): 137-140.
- Hinnebusch, Raymond. “Introduction: understanding the consequences of the Arab uprisings – starting points and divergent trajectories”. Democratization 22, no. 2 (2015): 205-217.
- Volpi, Frédéric. “Explaining (and re-explaining) political change in the Middle East during the Arab Spring: trajectories of democratization and of authoritarianism in the Maghreb”. Democratization 20, no. 6 (2013): 969-990.
- Dahi, Omar S. “Understanding the Political Economy of the Arab Revolts”. Middle East Report no. 259 (2011).
- Leenders, Reinoud. “Social Movement Theory and the Onset of the Popular Uprising in Syria”. Arab Studies Quarterly 35, no. 3 (2013): 273-289.
- Tu?al, Cihan. “‘Resistance everywhere’: The Gezi revolt in global perspective”. New Perspectives on Turkey 49 (2013): 157-172.
Seminar No. VII-VIII (August 30th – September 2rd at Granavolden Hotel): Orientalism and Middle East Area Studies
[REQUIRED READING]:
- Said, Edward W. “Orientalism Reconsidered”. Cultural Critique 1 (1985): 89-107.
- Scott, Matthew. “Edward Said’s Orientalism”. Essays in Criticism 58, no. 1 (2008): 64-81.
- Lewis, Bernard. “The Question of Orientalism”. The New York Review of Books, June 24,1982.
- Sadowski, Yahya. “The New Orientalism and the Democracy Debate,” Middle East Report, no. 183 (1993): 14-21, 40.
- Halliday, Fred. “‘Orientalism’ and its critics”. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 20, no. 2 (1993): 145-163.
- Burke III, Edmund. “Orientalism and world history: Representing Middle Eastern nationalism and Islamism in the twentieth century”. Theory and Society 27, no. 4 (1998): 489-507.
- Abu-Lughod, Lila. “Review: Orientalism" and Middle East Feminist Studies”. Feminist Studies 27, no. 1 (2001): 101-113.
- Bilgin, Pinar. “Is the ‘Orientalist’ past the future of Middle East studies?” Third World Quarterly 25, no. 2 (2004): 423-433.
- Eugene Rogan. “No Debate: Middle East Studies in Europe”. Middle East Report, no. 205 (1997): 22-24.
- Makdisi, Ussama. “Ottoman Orientalism”. The American Historical Review 107, no. 3 (2002): 768-796.
- Bill, James A. “Comparative Middle East Politics: Still in Search of Theory”. PS: Political Science and Politics 27, no. 3 (1994): 518-519.
- Haklai, Oded. “Authoritarianism and Islamic Movements in the Middle East: Research and Theory-building in the Twenty-first Century”. International Studies Review 11 (2009): 27–45.
Seminar No. IX (October 19th at UiO): (Neo)patrimonialism, Clientelism, Informal Rule
[REQUIRED READING]
- Charrad, Mounira M. “Central and Local Patrimonialism: State-Building in Kin-Based Societies”. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 636 (2011): 49-68.
- Springborg, Robert. “Patrimonialism and Policy Making in Egypt: Nasser and Sadat and the Tenure Policy for Reclaimed Lands”. Middle Eastern Studies 15, no. 1 (1979): 49-69.
- Lust, Ellen. “Competitive Clientelism in the Middle East”. Journal of Democracy 20, no. 3 (2009): 122-135.
- Koehler, Kevin. “Authoritarian Elections in Egypt: Formal Institutions and Informal Mechanisms of Rule”. Democratization 15, no. 5 (2008): 974-990.
Seminar No. X (October 26th at UiO): Social Movement Theory: The Case of Islamist Movements
[REQUIRED READING]:
- Kurzman, Charles. “Structural Opportunity and Perceived Opportunity in Social-Movement Theory: The Iranian Revolution of 1979”. American Sociological Review 61, no. 1 (1996): 153-170.
- Clark, Janine. “Social Movement Theory and Patron-Clientelism: Islamic Social Institutions and the Middle Class in Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen”. Comparative Political Studies 37, no. 8 (2004): 941-968.
- Wicktorowicz, Quintan. “Framing Jihad: Intramovement Framing Contests and al-Qaeda’s Struggle for Sacred Authority”. International Review of Social History 49 (2004): 159-177.
- Tu?al, Cihan Z. “The Appeal of Islamic Politics: Ritual and Dialogue in a Poor District of Turkey”. The Sociological Quarterly 47, no. 2 (2006): 245–273.
Seminar No.XI X (October 28th at UiO): Literature and Politics in the Middle East
[REQUIRED READING]:
- Allen, Roger. “Lords of misrule: history and fiction in two Moroccan novels”. Middle Eastern Literatures 9, no. 2 (2006): 199-209.
- Granara, William. “Mythologising the Algerian war of independence: Tahir Wattar and the contemporary Algerian novel”. The Journal of North African Studies 4, no. 3 (1999): 1-14.
- El Guabli, Brahim. “Novelising the Arab revolutions: The Knights of Assassinated Dreams”. The Journal of North African Studies 20, no. 2 (2015): 143-158.
- Guth, Stephan. “Avatar and ?Azāzīl – Western and Middle Eastern patterns of individual revolt: An essay in the simultaneity of ruptures”, In La littérature à l'heure du ?Printemps Arabe?: analyse et perspectives / Literature and the ?Arab Spring? : analyses and perspectives, edited by Sobhi Boustani. Paris, 2015, forthcoming.
Seminar No.XII (November 2th at UiO): The Politics of Language in the Middle East
[REQUIRED READING]:
- Ibrahim, Muhammad H. “Standard and Prestige Language: A Problem in Arabic Sociolinguistics”. Anthropological Linguistics 28, no. 1 (1986): 115-126.
- Uzum, Baburhan and Melike Uzum. “The Historical and Linguistic Analysis of Turkish Politicians' Speech”. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 23, no. 4 (2010): 213-224.
- Keshavarz, Mohammad Hossein. “Forms of Address in Post-Revolutionary Iranian Persian: A Sociolinguistic Analysis”. Language in Society 17, no. 4 (1988): 565-575.
- Nahir, Moshe. “Micro Language Planning and the Revival of Hebrew: A Schematic Framework”. Language in Society 27, no. 3 (1998): 335-357.
Seminar XIII (November 4th at UiO): Tribalism and the Segmentation Debate
[REQUIRED READING]:
- Lindholm, Charles. “The New Middle Eastern Ethnography”. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 1, no. 4 (1995): 805-820.
- Henry Munson, Jr. “Rethinking Gellner’s Segmentary Analysis of Morocco’s Ait ‘Atta”. Man 28, no. 2 (1993): 267-280.
- Ernest Gellner and Henry Munson, Jr. “Segmentation: Reality or Myth?”. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 1, no. 4 (1995): 821-832.
- Cherstich, Igor. “When Tribesmen do not act Tribal: Libyan Tribalism as Ideology (not as Schizophrenia)”. Middle East Critique 23, no. 4 (2014): 405-421.
- Fredrik Barth. “Father’s Brother’s Daughter Marriage in Kurdistan”. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 10, no. 2 (1954): 164-171.