Not available in 2023/24
GV4F2      Half Unit
Popular Politics in the Middle East

This information is for the 2023/24 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof John Chalcraft

Availability

This course is available on the MSc in Gender (Rights and Human Rights), MSc in Political Science (Conflict Studies and Comparative Politics) and MSc in Political Science (Global Politics). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course is capped at 3 groups.

Course content

The course explores the role of popular politics in the making of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa. The primary focus is on the Arab world but reference is also made to Iran, Israel and Turkey. We study the origins, course and consequences of popular protest, social and political movements, uprisings and revolutions in the region. We ask how a wide variety of subaltern social groups have challenged subordination and brought about new social relations. Our cases are drawn from the early twentieth century to the present. Common topics include the Iranian revolution of 1979, everyday forms of resistance, the first intifada in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (1987-1991), social justice and labour movements, Islamic activism, the Arab uprisings of 2011 and the Rojava Revolution. The course draws on critical, historically-minded and Gramscian approaches, aims to grasp the role of active subjectivity and leadership in context, and evaluates the ways in which a wide variety of movements have aimed to bring about change, and how they have succeeded and/or failed to do so.

Teaching

This course is delivered through a combination of seminars and lectures totalling a minimum of 30 hours in Winter Term. Week 6 of the WT is a reading week.

Formative coursework

In order to develop essay skills and obtain feedback outside of formal assessment, students will complete a 2,000 word formative essay on which they will receive feedback as to overall standard, argument, evidence, structure and style. Students will choose one essay from a list of titles. To prepare for the 5,000 word essay, students will submit for approval a proposed title and a two-page handout summarising the question or puzzle that their essay will address. A seminar will also be held as a workshop to assist students prior to the final submission of their 5,000 word essay.

Indicative reading

Abrahamian, Ervand. Iran between Two Revolutions (Princeton University Press, 1982); Achcar, Gilbert. The People Want. (Saqi Books 2012); Bayat, Asef. Street Politics: Poor People's Movements in Iran (Columbia University Press, 1997); Beinin, Chalcraft, John. Popular Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East (Cambridge University Press, 2016); Cronin, Stephanie. Subalterns and Social Protest (Routledge, 2007); Kurzman, Charles. The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran (Harvard University Press, 2004); Swedenburg, Ted. Memories of Revolt: The 1936-1939 Rebellion and the Palestinian National Past (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2003); Tripp, Charles, The Power and the People (Cambridge: CUP, 2013).

Assessment

Essay (100%, 5000 words).

Student performance results

(2019/20 - 2021/22 combined)

Classification % of students
Distinction 27.1
Merit 56.2
Pass 16.7
Fail 0

Key facts

Department: Government

Total students 2022/23: 28

Average class size 2022/23: 14

Controlled access 2022/23: Yes

Lecture capture used 2022/23: Yes (LT)

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course selection videos

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.

Personal development skills

  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Communication