Sociology of the Middle East – a two day conference at the University of Oslo, 7th-8th of May

Welcome to Sociology of the Middle East – a two day conference at the University of Oslo, 7th-8th of May.

Leading international scholars, Norwegian middle east researchers and sociologists are gathered for the first time to discuss how we can understand the development in the Middle East by using sociological perspectives. We present four keynote speeches, each followed by a roundtable discussion an d presentations. The themes of the four sessions are:

1. Conceptualizing the Arab spring: John T. Chalcraft, reader in the history and politics of empire/imperialism at London School of Economics, will give a keynote lecture discussing how we should analyze the Arab spring. Drawing on Antonio Gramsci, Michael Mann and post-colonial theory he presents a new theoretical framework for how we can better understand previous, current and future developments in the region.

2. Gender and democracy in the Middle East: Valentine Moghadam, professor of sociology at Northeastern University will give the keynote lecture “Engendering Democracy” where she argues that gender equality is a necessary prerequisite for a genuine and viable democracy.

3. Palestine in a sociological perspective: Sari Hanafi, professor of sociology at the American University in Beirut, and editor of Idafat, the Arab Journal of Sociology will give a keynote lecture on the anatomy of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, and how this affects the viability of a future Palestinian state.

4. The future of Islamist movements in the Middle East: Carrie Wickham, professor in political science at Emory University and author of Mobilizing Islam, will give a keynote lecture based on a newly finished research project, comparing moderate Islamist movements in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Kuwait. She will discuss common trends, country specifics and how the Arab spring will affect the future of these movements.

The conference is arranged by the Norwegian Sociological Association, Center for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and Institute for Sociology and Human Geography at the University of Oslo with the support of Fritt Ord.

For further details see the attached conference program.

For registration, please press this link: https://epay.uio.no/pay/shop.ordercreate.action?project=103350 

Deadline for registration is May 1st.

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