POL479H1F L5101
Graduate Course Code: POL2418H1F L5101
Topics in Middle East Politics
Contesting Authoritarianism in the Middle East
Themes
This course examines the politics of protest in the contemporary Middle East. The first half of the course examines the notion of political opportunity structures as outlined in social movement theory – focusing on the historical development and resilience of authoritarian states in the region. The second half of the course revolves around student research on social movement dynamics in the context of particular case studies. This is a seminar course that requires regular student participation in class, several formal presentations, various short writing assignments – article summaries, a short book analyses - and a research paper.
Texts
Quinton Wiktorowicz (ed.), Islamic Activism: A Social Movement Theory Approach, Indiana University Press, 2004; Joel Beinin and Frederick Vairel (eds), Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the Middle East and North Africa, Stanford University Press, 2nd Edition, 2013.
Format and Requirements
TBA
Prerequisites
POL201H1 or POL201Y1 or POLB90H3 or POLB91H3