DAFF 25A25 - Revolutions and their afterlives: The case of Middle East and North Africa

The course takes a sociological approach to study events that get termed, in a contested manner, as “revolutions.” We will focus on cases from the contemporary Middle East and North Africa region. The first two sessions of the course will provide the sociological tools to study social movements. The rest of the course will be divided into three parts: first, the socio-political factors that lead to a revolution, second, living in the revolution, and, third, the afterlives of the revolution. Overall, we will ask questions like: What socio-political context pushes people to protest? When do protests get termed a “revolution”? What types of mobilizations and non-movements do people invent when protests become too costly? What are the differences in the experiences of the revolution along gender, socio-economic class, migrant-citizen, and racial lines? What forms of afterlives do the revolutions take for both the states as well as the societies experiencing them?

This is a research-intensive class. Students will work on a case-study of their choice throughout the semester, learning to identify key actors and factors, methods of mobilization, and differential consequences of these mobilizations.

A basic knowledge on the politics and societies in the Middle East and North Africa region is desirable but not needed. Knowledge of Arabic and French languages is also desirable but not required.

Requirements for the class include:

• doing the weekly readings and participating in class discussions (10%),
• two short writing assignments (20%+20%),
• final research project including final presentation (20%) and final paper (20%),
• being a discussant to someone else’s presentation 10%