Module ARA2166 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
ARA2166: Revolution, Reform or Status Quo
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
The module aims to provide you with an understanding of the political situation in a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Algeria, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia. The core focus of the module is the political situation in each country and the prospects for change – i.e. whether regime change is a real possibility, whether significant political reforms falling short of regime change appear likely, and what are the forces driving/halting such reform processes. Among the topics covered are graduate unemployment, Islamism, the War on Terror, ethnicity, elections, and political systems. The course makes use of a number of books, journal articles and think-tank publications in order to expose you to a wide variety of material. Moreover, during the seminars, you will also be tasked with researching newspaper articles in order to obtain further - and more recent - data, particularly on the various elections and outbursts of civil unrest. The intention behind the use of both theoretical and/or empirical material is that by assisting you in mastering different types of texts, you will hopefully gain the skills to discuss the issue of ‘reform, revolution or status quo?’ in a country specific and a theoretical setting. A further aim is to provide you with a level of knowledge that allows you to discuss the topic of civil society and change in the Middle East and North Africa, not only in the selected cases, but across the region. Finally, the course aims to develop your skills as academics and independent researchers, thereby equipping you for the future, regardless of whether you aspire to a career in academe.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Understand the key issues in the debate on the status of regime change and political reform in the Middle East and North Africa; 2. Understand the forces that aid the persistence of authoritarianism in the region; |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Use and analyze secondary and primary data relevant to specific issue areas; 4. Place issues discussed in a wider context plus deploy critical arguments; |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. Develop critical and analytical skills through readings, class discussions and presentations; 6. Enhance your ability to undertake political analysis. |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Blaydes, Lisa (2011) Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Boukhars, Anouar (2011) Politics in Morocco: Executive monarchy and enlightened authoritarianism. London: Routledge.
Cavatorta, Francesco and Vincent Durac (2011) Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World. London: Routledge.
Collins, Robert (2008) A History of Modern Sudan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hemmer, Jort (2009) Ticking the box: Elections in Sudan. The Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael. Available online at http://www.nbiz.nl/publications/2009/20090900_paper_cru_hemmer_elections_sudan.pdf.
Kausch, Kristina (2009) Tunisia. The Life of Others. FRIDE Working Paper 85. Available online at http://www.fride.org/descarga/FRIDE-WP85-INGLES.pdf
Kazemi, Farhad and Augustus Richard Norton (1999) ‘Hardliners and Softliners in the Middle East: Problems of Governance and the Prospects for Liberalization in Authoritarian Political Systems,’ in Howard Handelman and Mark Tessler (eds) Democracy and Its Limits: Lessons from Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 69-89.
Le Sueur, James (2009) Algeria since 1989: Between terror and democracy. London: Zed Books.
Martinez, Luis (2007) The Libyan Paradox. London: Hurst and Company.
Perkins, Kenneth (2004) A History of Modern Tunisia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schmitter, Philippe (2010) ‘Twenty-Five Years, Fifteen Findings,’ Journal of Democracy 21(1), pp. 17-28. Available online at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_democracy/v021/21.1.schmitter.pdf.
Vandewalle, Dirk (2008) Libya since 1969: Qadhafi’s revolution revisited. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
(2006) A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
