CIEE in Rabat, Morocco

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "CIEE in Rabat, Morocco"

Mabel Maryann French
5 years ago
Views:

CIEE in Rabat, Morocco Course name: The Arab Spring and Birth of the Arab Citizen Course number: POLI 3003 MORC Programs offering course: Rabat Language and Culture Language of instruction: English U.

1 CIEE in Rabat, Morocco Course name: The Arab Spring and Birth of the Arab Citizen Course number: POLI 3003 MORC Programs offering course: Rabat Language and Culture Language of instruction: English U.S. Semester Credits: 3 credits Contact Hours: 45 hours Term: Spring 2019 Course meeting place: Rabat Study Center Office hours: Upon Request Course Description Some political and social scientists hold the assumptions according to which the Middle East and North Africa are an exception in their resistance to global democratization changes. Their explanation hinges on the presupposition that Arab people would accept authoritarianism in return for political stability, economic growth, and social well-being. The Arab Spring has come to refute this long-held assumption that there was in Arab countries actually nothing inherently adverse to democratization. This course principally tackles this and other non scientific conclusions. Besides, it considers the emerging citizenship in the context of the Arab Spring as promises of democratization under the recent social and political changes which affected the MENA region. In this regard, the course will, on the one hand, explore the reasons and the conditions of the upheavals in the Arab World and, on other hand, will starve to explain the possibility of the Birth of an Arab Citizen free from any political submission. Also, it will analyze the new status and role of Islam as a political and social driving force. Course Objectives The course has an interdisciplinary, integrative, and critical focus. Its main objectives are to: Introduce students to a variety of institutions, individuals and viewpoints on the Arab Spring; Explore contemporary issues related to the political changes in the MENA region and examine the effects of uprisings on Arab cultures and the emergence of civil society; Enable students to gain factual insightful information and a theoretical framework regarding the Arab Spring and democratization in the MENA region; Position the transformations in the MENA region within the democracy promotion framework and analyze how these transformations can bridge the gap inside, between Arab countries and with the West.

2 Learning outcomes for the course By completion of this course, students will be able to: Identify the similarities or lack thereof between the different protests movements and relate these diverse forms to democratic claims; Demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of the transition from authoritarian legacy in the MENA region and the relationship between this legacy and the different political protest movements; Recognize the causes and forms of stability and resistance to the dissemination of democracy; Formulate an informed, culturally appropriate, and intellectually rigorous independent reflection paper grounded on course readings, lectures, and discussions. Show informed opinions regarding protests, revolutions and democratic change; Participate in well-documented written or spoken presentations on the Arab Spring; Build upon the present period across the MENA while pulling out comparative wisdom on previous historical moments. Course Requirements Students are responsible for the timely reading and preparation of materials assigned for each session. In addition to readings and assignments, attendance and active participation during lectures is required. The success of the course depends upon the creation of a community of active readers, listeners and thinkers. You will rely on each other for lively discussion, respectful dissension, and conscientious, critical analysis of the readings. Assistance will be given to students to clarify confusions and misunderstandings, but no lecture overview of the readings will be provided by the Professor. Each week, a student or set of students will lead the discussion on the readings. However, because students are all doing the readings for each class, anyone could be arbitrarily picked to answer any question at any time. Each student is required to submit a page or so of thoughts on the readings prior to each class. These readings should be ed to the professor by 5:00pm the day before class, and will be used by the leaders of the discussion for that day as organizing material. These statements can be summaries of the readings with added commentary, an application of the readings to a novel/different situation /context, a contrasting of the readings with one another or with other literature, or basically anything that is reasonably smart and shows that the readings have been done. 30% of the final grade will be based on these weekly response papers, as well as the discussion that you lead during the semester.

3 Final Paper The paper can discuss particular questions within the broad themes covered in class. It should conform to academic standards of proper citation, elaborate research questions, and relevant bibliography. The research paper should be at least 3500 words on a topic approved by the instructor. The research paper will constitute 30% of the semester grade for this course. Prior to the meeting students should submit a proposed topic described in approximately 100 words and an indication of the sources available. Papers that are less than 3500 words will be penalized 10 points. Papers that are late will be penalized 10 points for each day that they are turned in after the announced deadline. Assessment and Final Grade 1. Mid-term and final papers: 40% 2. A journal (featuring the participant s own reflections on the Arab Spring 10% 3. Weekly one-page reaction papers 30% 4. Class participation: 20% Weekly Schedule Session 1 Session 2: Session 3: Session 1: Presentations Course Outline: Presentation and Discussion of the Main Themes and Issues Definition of Key Terms (Arab; Spring; uprising, revolt; revolution; Jasmine, Cedar, 2.0 Revolution ) In-class Presentation Opportunities Initial readings include an article on the Arab Spring which appeared in The Economist and a historical survey of the event: Michael B. Bishku, Is it an Arab Spring or Business as Usual? Recent Changes in the Arab World in Historical Context. The Past as a Prologue : the Situation in the Arab Word Prior to the Uprising Dictatorship, Theocracy, Oligarchy, and other Authoritarian Regimes: Ossified Systems and Bad Governance Readings will include: Francesco Cavatorta, The Convergence of Governance: Upgrading Authoritarianism in the Arab World and Downgrading Democracy Elsewhere? (2010) Marwan Bishara, L Ancien Regime from his book, The Invisible Arab: The Promise and Peril of the Arab Revolutions (2012) A General Overview of the Arab Spring: a Look into the Main Factors leading to Uprisings, Revolutions, and/or Evolutions -Economic Factors (unfair distribution of wealth, inadequate economic models, deficient development models ) Readings include an interview with Oswaldo De Reviero, The Myth of Development; Annia Ciezadlo, Let them eat Bread: How Food Subsidies Prevent (and Provoke) Revolutions in the

4 Middle East, an interview with Ragui Assaad, Demographics of Arab Protests. -Cultural factors (Inability to cope with the consequences of modernity, widespread illiteracy, the closing of the mind, poverty of the cultural environment ) Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity; James D. Le Sueur, Post-Colonial Disorder: Egypt and the Middle East, Stuck in the Past, Bernard Lewis, Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East, -Social factors (the demographic time-bomb, endemic unemployment among youth, marginality, exclusion, ) Readings will include Michael Penner Angrist: Morning in Tunisia: the Frustrations of the Arab World Boil Over Session 4: Session 5: How it all started in the Maghreb Case Study: Tunisia Readings will include: Peter J. Schraeder Tunisia s Jasmine Revolution, International Intervention, and Popular Sovereignty, Lisa Anderson, Demystifying the Arab Spring: Parsing the Differences between Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. The Domino Effect Case Study: Egypt Readings will include Fouad Ajami, The Sorrows of Egypt: a Tale of two Men, Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, The Muslim Brotherhood after Mubarak, Joshua Stacher, Egypt Democratic Mirage: how Cairo s Authoritarian Regime is adapting to Preserve itself. Screening of a documentary, Tahrir Square Session 6: Session 7: Peaceful Evolution or Political Containment? Case Study: Morocco and Algeria Readings will include Leila Lalami, The Moroccan Exception? Azzedine Layachi, Meanwhile in the Maghreb: have Algeria and Morocco avoided North Africa s Unrest? Kamal Daoued the Algerian Exception, Volpi, Algeria vs. the Arab Spring. Screening of a documentary, The Revolution that Never Was The Domino Effect still at Work Case Study: Libya When NATO becomes an Arab Spring Ally Readings will include: Elliott Abrams, Our Bargain with the New Gadhafi, Frederic Wehrey, Libya s Terra Incognita: who and what will follow Qaddafi, Robert E. Hunter, What Intervention Looks Like: how the West can Aid the Libyan Rebels, Micah Zenko, The Mythology of Intervention: debating the

5 Lessons of History in Libya, Meghan L. O Sullivan, Will Libya become Obama s Iraq? Session 8: Session 9: Session 10: Session 11: Syria and Yemen: Have the Aspiration of the Arab Spring been swallowed by Counter-revolutions and Civil Wars? Readings include: The Sturdy House that Assad Built; Heydemann, Syria and the Future of Authoritarianism, Yemen: A Mirror to the Future of the Arab Spring, Session 9: Arab Monarchies Reactions to the Arab Spring Case Study: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Bahrain Readings will include: Robert Danin, Why Jordan is Not a Regional Domino, Kristin Smith Diwan, Bahrain s Shia Question, F. Gregory Gause, Rageless in Riyadh: Why the Al-Saud Dynasty will Remain, Alexander Cooley and Daniel H. Nexon, Bahrain s Base Politics: the Arab Spring and America s Military Bases, Session 10: the Arab Spring visits Lebanon and Palestine Session 11: Arab Intellectuals Responses to the Arab Spring Readings will include: F. Gregory Gause, The Middle East Academic Community and the Winter of Arab Discontent : Why did We Miss It? Perry Anderson: On the Concatenation of the Arab World, Excerpts from Assia Belhabib (ed.) Quand le printemps est arabe (2014) A brief account of Youssef Amine Alami s Un Drôle de Printemps (2014) Session 12: Session 13: Session 12: On the Role of Social Media in the Arab Spring Readings will include: Aramando Salvatore, New Media, the Arab Spring, and the metamorphosis of the Public Sphere: Beyond Western Assumptions on Collective Agency and Democratic Politics, (2013) Afife Idil Akin et.al Old Wine in a New Cask? Protest Cycles in the Age of the New Social Media. (2013) Meet the Major Players in the Arab Spring: Young People Marwan Bishara, The Miracle Youth Session 13: Women and the Arab Spring Readings will include: Isobel Coleman, Are the Mideast Revolutions Bad for Women s Rights? Women of the Arab Spring: a Conversation with Esraa Abdel-Fattah and Lina Ben Mhenni, (2013) Ezra Ilbrosheva: The First Ladies and the Arab Spring. (2013) Elizabeth Johansson-Noygues, Gendering the Arab Spring? Rights and (in)security of Tunisian, Egyptian, and Libyan Women. (2013) Session 14: Session 14: Minorities in the Arab World and the Arab Spring Maher Y. Abu Munshar, In the Shadow of the Arab Spring : the Fate of Non- Muslims under Islamist Rule. Tarek Mitri, Middle Eastern Christians and the Arab Spring. First essay due!

6 Session 15: Sessions 15: The Arab Spring and Iran Screening of the animated movie, Persepolis followed by a discussion Session 16 Session 17: Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia as Major (New) Players in the Middle-East Sunnite and Shiite Islam in search of supremacy in the (post-arab Spring) Middle East Readings will include: The Shia Axis ; Ankara s Failure: How Turkey Lost the Arab Spring, Why Turkey isn t a Model for Arab Countries. Sessions 17: The USA and the Arab Spring: has the Arab Spring been masterminded by the USA? Readings include: Gamal Selim, The United States and the Arab Spring: the Dynamics of Political Engineering. Marwan Bishara, The West: Interests over Values Session 18: Session 19: Session 18: : Russia in the Post-Arab Spring Middle East Readings include, Alexey Maleshenko: Russia and the Arab Spring Sessions 19: Islamism and the Arab Spring: has the Arab Spring been high-jacked by Daech? Readings will include a book by John R. Bradley, After the Arab Spring: How Islamists High-jacked the Middle-East Revolts (2012) A discussion of the contents of Boualem Sansal s novel, 2084, Abistan (August 2015) (a dystopian novel featuring a totalitarian State run by radical Islamists) Session 20: Session 21: Session 22: Session 20: The Arab Spring in Retrospect: Gains and Losses Readings include: Valentine M. Moghadam, What is Democracy? Promises and Perils of the Arab Spring, (2013) Jack A. Goldstone, Understanding the Revolutions of 2011: Weakness and Resilience in Middle Eastern Autocracies, Michael Scott Doran, The Heirs of Nasser: who will benefit from the Second Arab Revolution? Session 21: After the Arab Uprisings: Islamism vs. Secularism Readings will include: Shadi Hamid, The Rise of the Islamists: How Islamists will Change Politics and Vice Versa, Daniel Byman, Terrorism after the Revolution: how Secular Uprisings could Help (or Hurt) Jihadists, Marwan Bishara, Epilogue: the Visible Arab Session 22: Islam and Democracy, are they Compatible? Readings will include,, Marwan Bishara, Islamists and Democracy, Other relevant articles will be provided in due time Final essay due! Readings

7 - Asef Bayat, Life as Politics: How Ordinary People Change the Middle East (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2010). - Mohsine El Ahmadi and Stuart Schaar: Birth of the Arab Citizen and the Changing Middle East. (Northampton, MA: Interlink Publishing, 2014). - Wael Ghonim, Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People Is Greater than the People in Power (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012). - Anouar Boukhars Politics in Morocco: Executive Monarchy and Enlightened Authoritarianism (London: Routledge, 2010) - David W. Lesch and Mark L. Haas (Editors), The Arab Spring: Change and Resistance in the Middle East (Boulder: Westview Press, 2013) - Paul Danahar, The New Middle East: the World After the Arab Spring (London: Bloomsbury, 2015); - James Gelvin, The Arab Uprisings: What Everybody needs to Know (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2012) - Marc Lynch, The Arab Uprisings: the Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East (New York: Public Affairs, 2012)

Study Center in Rabat, Morocco

Study Center in Rabat, Morocco Course name: The Arab Spring and Birth of the Arab Citizen Course number: POLI 3003 MORC Programs offering course: Rabat Study Center Language of instruction: English U.S.