Sociology Lecture Series 2012 - Roots and Dynamics of the Ongoing Revolutionary Upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa
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Speaker: Prof Gilbert Achcar, Department of Development Studies, SOAS, University of London
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Date: Thursday 2 February 2012 from 7.00-9.00pm
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Venue: Thomas Davis Theatre, Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin
In this public lecture Prof Gilbert Achcar assessed the social-economic and political roots of the ongoing revolutionary process in the MENA region. This lecture is part of the TCD's Department of Sociology 2012 Lecture Series titled Sociology Responds to the Crisis.
Presentation Overview
This lecture assessed the social-economic and political roots of the ongoing revolutionary process in the MENA region, pointing to features that are common to the region's countries as well as to differences in social structures and types of states that determine different social and political dynamics. It also reflected on the perspectives of the process at the regional level.
Speaker Biography
Professor Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International Relations in the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Gilbert has degrees in Philosophy (ESL, Beirut), Social Sciences (UL, Beirut) and Social History/International Relations (University of Paris-VIII). He taught and/or researched in various universities and research centres in Beirut, Berlin and Paris. Gilbert's research interests and publication topics include: the political economy and sociology of globalisation, the global power structure and grand strategy, empire theory and the unfolding of US hegemony globally and in the 'Broader Middle East', politics and development economics of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, the sociology of religion in general, of Islam and Islamic fundamentalism in particular, social change and social theory. His latest books are :
The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives. (2010).
Achcar, Gilbert and Chomsky, Noam (2009) Perilous Power: The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy. Dialogues on Terror, Democracy ,War, and Justice. [2nd augmented edition.].