Prof John Chalcraft

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 uses controlled access as part of the course selection process. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

How to apply: To apply for a place on this course, please submit a short statement of no more than 200 words via LfY. Your statement should outline your reasons for applying and explain how the course will support your academic and/or career goals. If applicable, you should also demonstrate how you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide. If the course is compulsory for your programme, no written statement is required.

Priority for places on Government (GV) courses will be given first to students for whom the course is compulsory. Where applicable, priority will then be given to students on the Department of Government programmes listed in the ‘Availability’ section of the course guide, followed by students on other programmes listed in that section. Students on all other programmes will be considered next, where a course is available as an outside option. You should ensure that you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide before applying. Places on capped courses cannot be guaranteed. Where a course is oversubscribed, places will be allocated based on programme priority and the written statement.

Deadline for applications: The deadline for applications is 12:00 noon on Friday 25 September 2026. You can expect to be informed of the outcome of your application by 12:00 noon on Monday 28 September 2026. Any places remaining after this date will be allocated based on priority and written statement - up until course selection closes.

For queries contact: gov.msc@lse.ac.uk.

This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access) and demand is typically high. Priority is given to students on the programmes listed above. Students from outside these programmes may not get a place. The course is capped.

The course explores the role of popular politics in the making of the 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 mobilization, social and political movements, uprisings and revolutions in the region. We ask how a wide variety of subaltern social groups have challenged domination 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), labour movements, Islamic activism, human rights, the Arab uprisings of 2011, gender politics, and the Rojava Revolution. The course draws on critical, historically-minded, and Gramscian approaches. It aims to grasp the role of active subjectivity and leadership in context. And it evaluates the ways in which a wide variety of movements have aimed to bring about change, and how they have succeeded and/or failed.

15 hours of seminars and 15 hours of lectures in the Autumn Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

Essay (2000 words).

Essay plan.

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 summative 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.

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); 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).

Essay (100%, 5000 words) in January.