Afghanistan: The Problems with Aid Dependency and the Need for a Plan B
Author: Annie Wernersson (UI)
November, 2021
The Swedish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract
This UI Brief reviews the lessons learned from 20 years of providing aid to Afghanistan. It argues that donors must work harder to establish indigenous ownership and develop plans for when circumstances rapidly change, so that the situation of an escalating humanitarian crisis can be avoided in the future.
Everyday Politics of Forced Migration: Refugees, Host Community Members, and the Local Context
Author: Ezgi Irgil (University of Gothenburg)
November, 2021
Department of Political Science, The University of Gothenburg
Abstract
This dissertation adds to and broadens the literature on forced migration by explaining how everyday politics influence new social dynamics in cities of arrival. Most of the existing research focuses on the Western context and highlights the cultural differences between the host community members and the refugees who arrive from outside of Europe and North America. To analyse whether these findings are applicable in non–Western contexts, Ezgi examine a South–South forced migration context in which both groups share the religion (Islam) but not the language (Turkish vs Arabic) through the case of Çarşamba (a district of the province of Bursa in Turkey).
Continue reading “Dissertation on everyday politics of forced migration”
Sustaining motivation: post-revolutionary oppositional consciousness among young Egyptian feminists
Author: Emma Sundkvist (Lund University)
July, 2021
The Journal of North African Studies
Abstract
Activism against sexual violence was one of the Egyptian Revolution’s most significant mobilising forces, but the country’s return to authoritarian rule has circumvented possibilities for organising and carrying out political resistance, including activism against sexual harassment. This article shows that despite this political oppression, young feminists continue to raise their voices and organise against the continuing problem of sexual violence. To illustrate this, the article draws on interviews considering a recent controversy surrounding allegations of sexual violence within the Egyptian political party Bread and Freedom.
Continue reading “Article on women’s mobilisation against sexual violence in Egypt”
Youth Identity, Politics and Change in Contemporary Kurdistan
Editors:
Shivan Fazil (SIPRI) & Bahar Baser
September, 2021
Abstract
The contemporary history of the KRI is marked by conflict, war, and ethnic cleansing under Saddam Hussein and the tyranny of the Ba’ath regime, significantly affecting the political situation of the Kurds in the Middle East. Most of the recent academic literature has focused on the broader picture or, in other words, the macro politics of the Kurdish conundrum within Iraq and beyond. There is little scholarship about the Kurdish population and their socio-economic conditions after 2003, and almost none about the younger generation of Kurds who came of age during autonomous Kurdish rule.
Continue reading “New book on youth identity in the Kurdistan Region”2022 SWEMENA FIRST ANNUAL CONFERENCE
13-15 June 2022 – Gothenburg University
The first Swedish Middle East and North Africa Network (SWEMENA) Annual Conference will be hosted by The School of Global Studies (SGS) at the University of Gothenburg. We look forward to this opportunity to solidify the network and meet in person, and to hosting excellent papers and panels across all fields and disciplines related to Middle Eastern Studies. We therefore invite contributions from all of those based in Sweden working on topics related to the MENA region. The working language of the conference will be English.
We invite submissions of abstract of no more than 250 words, on any topic related to Middle Eastern Studies. While submissions are open to all fields and disciplines, we invite you to please attach 3 of the keywords below to your abstract.
Please note that the call is also open for panel proposals.
The deadline for abstract submission is Monday, 31 January 2022. We expect to return a decision of acceptance in February, 2022.
To submit your abstracts and for any questions, please contact Dr. Lucia Ardovini (lucia.ardovini@ui.se) and Mattias Svahn (mattias.svahn@ui.se)
Keywords:
Social Movements
Governance
Violent Extremism
The local
Protest
Conflict
Governance
Minorities
Islam
Gender
Sectarianism
Media
Youth
State-society Relations
Environment/Climate Change
Human Rights
Social Justice
Authoritarianism
Decolonisation
Migration
