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SWEMENA SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2023

The Institute for Turkish Studies (Stockholm University) and the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) are pleased to welcome you to SWEMENA’S Second Annual Conference at Stockholm University on 24-25th August 2023. The conference is organised by the SWEMENA Steering Committee.

This interdisciplinary event marks the second anniversary of the establishment of SWEMENA – the Swedish Middle East and North Africa Network. The annual conference reflects SWEMENA’S main objective: to bring together different communities of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers across Sweden with an interest in the Middle East and North Africa region.  SWEMENA encourages the dissemination and discussion of new research on Middle Eastern politics and society and provides a network for scholars, students, policy-makers, and others with related research interests.

The papers presented at the conference will cover a variety of topics and disciplines, for instance, political and social movements; gender; governance; displacement; ecology, international relations; diasporas; and religion.

The Conference is organised by the SWEMENA Steering Committee:
Alaa Tartir – Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Ellen Lust – The Program on Governance and Local Development, Gothenburg University
Isabell Schierenbeck –  School of Global Studies, Gothenburg University
Josepha Wessels – School of Arts and Communication, Malmö University
Karin Aggestam – Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University
Paul T. Levin – Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies, Stockholm University 
Rouzbeh Parsi – The Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) 

SWEMENA Coordinator:
Isabella Aslan – The Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI)

Registration:
The deadline for registering is June 24, 2023. Registration form for attendees

(Please note that speakers should register using a separate link by June 19. For more info, get in touch with Isabella Aslan at UI).

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CALL FOR PAPERS

2023 SWEMENA SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE  
24-25 August – Stockholm University

The second Swedish Middle East and North Africa Network (SWEMENA) Annual Conference will be hosted by Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies. We look forward to this opportunity to solidify the network and meet in person, and to host excellent papers and panels across all fields and disciplines related to Middle Eastern Studies. We therefore invite contributions from all doctoral students and researchers based in Sweden working on topics related to the MENA region (including Turkey and Afghanistan). Master students are welcome to attend. 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. Accepted proposals entails giving a 15-minute presentation at the conference in a panel organised by either SWEMENA or a group of participants themselves. 

Please note that the call is also open for panel proposals.   

The deadline for abstract – panels or individual presentations – submission is Tuesday, 2 May 2023. We expect to return a decision of acceptance in the middle of May 2023.   

To submit your abstracts and for any questions, please contact Isabella Aslan (isabella.aslan@ui.se) 

Keywords: 

Authoritarianism  Literature & art 
Conflict Media 
Culture Migration 
Decolonization Minorities 
Democracy Nationalism 
Environment/Climate Change Political economy 
Gender Popular culture 
Governance  Protest 
Health Religion 
Human Rights Sectarianism 
Islam  Social Movements 
Language State-Society Relations 
 Youth 
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CALL FOR PAPERS

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 

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Welcome to a SWEMENA Seminar on the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database!

On the 11 May 16.00-17.15 CEST, SIPRI will be hosting the next SWEMENA seminar, discussing the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database. The seminar will be open to all researchers and practitioners interested in the MENA region. Make sure to register as soon as possible, as there are limited spots available.

Introduction to the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database – Trends in the MENA region.

The seminar will discuss the SIPRI Arms Transfer Database as a tool to identify trends and patterns in international arms transfers. By analyzing data on arms transfers, it will examine several case studies to investigate international arms transfers data in relation to international security and national foreign and defence policies and inter-state relations with a focus on MENA.

Speakers:

Alexandra Kuimova, Researcher at SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme

Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher at SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme

When: 11 May, 16.00-17.15 (CEST)

Where: Via Zoom (Link will be sent to all who register)

Registration: You register by sending an email containing name and affiliation to mattias.svahn@ui.se, no later than Sunday, 9 May. (Limited spots available)

Go to the event
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Webinar Global Media Representation of the Syrian City of Raqqa: a roundtable debate

On 11 December 2020, School of Arts and Communication at Malmö University hosted a panel debate to discuss the symbolism and media representation of the Syrian city of Raqqa, in various news and media outlets, films, books and series.

Raqqa city features in many different shapes and forms, for example in books such as the Road from Raqqa and here in Sweden a TV-series called “Kalifat” is partly situated in Raqqa city as the backdrop hotbed of jihadism and ISIS. Viewers do not actually get to know the city. In other words, everybody knows Raqqa nowadays but nobody actually knows the city and its people.

The aim of this panel to give a more in-depth and nuanced insight into this Syrian city that has become well-known globally. The roundtable is conducted by a panel of Syrian writers and journalists from Raqqa as well as scholarly media experts from Sweden.

Panel members:

• Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Dissident Syrian-Arab Writer from Raqqa, also called “the conscience of the Syrian Revolution”, author of 8 books on Syria
• Mazen Hassoun, Syrian Journalist from Raqqa, founder of “Al-Raqqa post”
• Hussam Eesa, Journalist from Raqqa, founding-member of “Raqqa is being slaughteredsilently”
• Josepha Wessels, author of “Documenting Syria: Film-making, Video Activism and
Revolution” K3, Malmö University, Sweden (moderator)

Watch the webinar
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Welcome to SWEMENA

Welcome everyone!

We are happy to announce that the website is now up and running. Mattias Svan and Lucia Ardovini from the UI have layed the ground for the rest of us to build from.

On this page we will be able to post various content in the form of blog posts. The idea is that we all write short pieces on a topic of our interest.