Postgraduate Module Descriptor


ARAM054: State and Society in the Middle East

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

1. Orientalism, Area Studies & Social Science: Approaches to Middle East Politics

2. Historical Sociology of the State in the Middle East

3. Nationalism: Theory, Ideology and Practice

4. Authoritarianism: Violence, Discourse and Symbolic Power

5. Military Politics: Armed Forces and Society

6. Sectarianism: Politics outside the State

7. Religion and State-Building: Modernity without Secularism

8. Political Islam and Civil Society: Inside or Outside the State?

9. Ethnicity: Primordial Ties and Imagined Communities

10. Corruption, Economic Reform and Neo-Patrimonialism

11. Informal Politics: Poverty, Power and Resistance

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
222780

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities2211 x 2 hour seminars
Guided independent study120Reading for seminars
Guided independent study158Completion of course work

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).