Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC2123: Politics of the Middle East

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

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

Module Aims

This module aims to provide an introduction to the main themes and dynamics in the politics of the contemporary Middle East at the domestic, regional and global levels. It considers the political, economic, and social changes that have affected the region since the birth of the nation-state. In doing so, the module provides you with the cognitive skills and academic inquisitiveness that are necessary to nuance your understanding of the region.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. evaluate the enduring legacies of colonialism on the politics in, and discourses about, the region and analyse the process of state-formation in the contemporary Middle East; 2. assess critically the impact of globalisation on economic and political liberalisation and appreciate the transnational dynamics of civil organizing and political mobilization in the region.
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. evaluate different theoretical and practical approaches in the study of politics of the Middle East; 4. construct coherent yet concise arguments.
Personal and Key Skills	5. write analytically for an academic and non-academic public; 6. develop good research and indexing praxis (on line and in the library); 7. defend ones position on seminar discussions.

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 of the following topics or readings:

Politics and Area Studies: Beyond Orientalism/Occidentalism and East/West
Empire, Colonialism and the Birth of the Middle East State (Egypt, Algeria, Turkey)
Beyond TH Marshall: Citizenship(s) in the Middle East (Gulf, Lebanon)
Oil Wealth/Curse: Modernization, urban development and neoliberal policies (Gulf, Algeria, Libya)
NGO-ization or the Liberalization of Politics (case study: LGBT activism vs. “Gay Internationalists”)
Informal Politics, Resistance and Encroachment (a view from Egypt and Gaza)
Sect, Sectarianisation and the State (Iran, Yemen)
Transnational Solidarity and the Middle East (Kurdistan)
From the War on Terror to the War on Iraq: Reading the ME through a Feminist IR Lens
The Arab Spring and Masculinist Restoration (Bahrein, Syria)
The Universalization of Human Rights: What Challenges for the Middle East?

Learning and Teaching

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

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

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

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	22	11 x 2 hr seminars
Guided independent study	128	Private study students are expected to read suggested texts and make notes prior to seminar sessions. They are also expected to read widely to complete their coursework assignments. More specifically, students are expected to devote at least: 66 (6 hours per topic/week) hours to directed reading; 6 hours to completing the formative research outline; 42 hours (3 hours/day over two weeks) for completing the essay; 10 hours (2 hours/day over 5 days) for completing opinion pieces. The 4 remaining hours serve as a margin to be adjusted depending on the student in question

Online Resources

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

ELE – College to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages
Kanopy;
podcasts;
blogs and vlogs;
cultural productions (songs; music videos; films; performances);
policy briefs;
annual reports from selected international organizations

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.

Basic reading:

Edward Said, Orientalism

Asef Bayat, Life as Politics: How Ordinary People Change the Middle East

Dina Singerman, Avenues of Participation: Family, Politics, and Networks in Urban Quarters of Cairo

Betty S. Anderson, Nationalist Voices in Jordan: The Street and the State

Joseph A. Massad, Colonial Effects: The Making of National Identity in Jordan

David Szanton, The Politics of Knowledge: Area Studies and the Disciplines

Zachary Lockman, Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism and Field Notes: The Making of Middle East Studies in the United States

Lara Deeb and Jessica Winegar, Anthropology’s Politics: Disciplining the Middle East

Adam Hanieh, Money, Markets and Monarchies: The Gulf Cooperation Council and the Political Economy of the Contemporary Middle East

Donatella Della Ratta, Shooting the Revolution: Visual Media and Warfare in Syria.

Sam Cherribi, Fridays of Rage: Al Jazeera, the Arab Spring, and Political Islam.

Tarek El-Ariss. Leaks, Hacks and Scandals: Arab Culture in the Digital Age.

Mohamed Zayani. Networked Publics and Digital Contention: The Politics of Everyday Life in Tunisia.

Daniel Ritter, The Iron Cage of Liberalism: International Politics and Unarmed Revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa.

Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Conceiving Citizens: Women and the Politics of Motherhood in Iran.

Shahla Talebi, Ghosts of Revolution: Rekindled Memories of Imprisonment in Iran.

Charles Tripp, The Power and the People: Paths of Resistance in the Middle East.

Mounira Charrad, States and Women's Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco

Timothy Mitchell, Rule of Experts: Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity