94473 - Contemporary History of North Africa and Middle East

Learning outcomes

The course focuses on the Middle East and North African regions in the 20th and 21st centuries. It historically examines the nature of political authority, the complex relationship between Islam and politics during the profound secularisation of the 20th century, and the successive resurgence of religious themes in national and global politics. The challenges of democracy will also be examined, together with the legacy of the past in articulating processes of national as well as transnational belonging, and the founding of political institutions in the MENA region, with a focus on the post-Cold War context. By the end of the course students will have acquired knowledge of the contemporary history of these regions with a focus on social, economic and political issues and the main theories and concepts concerning the formation of contemporary Arab states.

Course contents

The course traces the main political and cultural processes that have affected North Africa and the Middle East in the contemporary era through the identification of some thematic junctures of particular relevance such as the link between the construction of knowledge and the exercise of political power; the dialectic between centres and peripheries; the nature of political authority; the delimitation and political use of geographical and social borders; the relationship between religion and politics; but also the dialectic between subjectivities and collectivities, public sphere and private dimension.

To this end, the twelve lessons of the course (six three-hour lessons and six two-hour lessons) are divided into two interconnected macro-thematic modules.

Embracing the methodological exercise of 'provincialising' Europe (Chakrabarty 2000), the first module will focus on North Africa and the Middle East to address the forms of the political that emerged in the global scenario at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The forms of state and government which were witnessed by the region during the period under consideration will be examined - from colonialism, to decolonisation and independence - without neglecting the plurality of political subjectivities that were articulated in a dialectical relationship with them.

The demands for dignity, freedom and equality that have emerged in the region since the 2000s - and, ever more strongly, after 2011 - will be the subject of the second module of the course. Particular emphasis will be put on the importance of the triptych "Memory, History, Heritage" in informing new processes of political subjectivation, and (re)articulating various demands for political group recognitions as well as the protection of fundamental human rights. Building on the content acquired in the first module, this part of the course will be devoted to retracing the historical roots of these demands together with the use of memory and history in the current (re)negotiation of national identities and belonging, but also of a plurality of ethnic and confessional identities. In so doing, the role played by the logics of race and racism in the global Mediterranean space will also be assessed.

By taking some selected country examples as a starting point, the construction and questioning of national, regional, and international belongings will be constantly examined through the prism of social change, without ever losing sight of the legacies of the imperial past as well as the challenges of democracy.

Readings/Bibliography

The bibliography for attending and non-attending students consists of the book chapters and articles listed above. These materials will constitute the departing points for class discussion, but might be slightly modified or supplemented depending on the number of attending students and the methods of discussion that will be adopted (see Teaching Methods section).

Module I – Formes, acteurs et thèmes du politique

1. Maghreb et Moyen Orient dans l’Histoire Globale : définitions, méthodes et thèmes du cours

A.Hannoum (2021), The Invention of the Maghreb. Between Africa and the Middle East, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-29.

F. Cooper (2010), « La modernisation du colonialisme et les limites de l’empire », Labyrinthe, n. 35, pp. 69 -86.

B. Semmoud (2010), Maghreb et Moyen-Orient dans la Mondialisation, Paris : Armand Collin, pp. 5 -14 ; 197 – 209.

2. Pouvoirs politiques et sociales entre centres et périphéries

J. Clancy-Smith (2016), L’Afrique du Nord à l’époque coloniale : migration, agriculture et échec de l’innovation, 1830-1914, “Revue d’Histoire du XIXe Siècle”, n. 53, pp. 97-114.

A.M. Medici (2011), Waqfs of Cyrenaica and Italian Colonialism in Libya (1911–41), dans Pascale Ghazaleh (dir.), Held in Trust. Pious Foundations, Founders, and Beneficiaries, Cairo: AUC Press, pp. 190-218.

L. Valensi (1984), Le Maghreb vu du Centre : Sur sa place dans l’école sociologique française, dans J.-C. Vatin (dir.), Connaissances du Maghreb, Paris : CNRS pp. 227–247.

3. Pluralismes maghrébins : etnicité, sectarisme et plurilinguisme (choisir 3 contributions entre les suivantes)

J. Dakhlia (2004), « No man's langue : une rétraction colonial », dans J. Dakhlia (dir.), Trames des langues. Usages et métissages linguistiques dans l’histoire du Maghreb, Tunis : Maisonneuve & Larose, pp. 259-271.

M. Dobie (2003), « Francophone Studies and the Linguistic Diversity of the Maghreb », Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 23 (1–2). Pp. 32–36.

G. Albergoni., F. Pouillon (1976), « Le fait berbère et sa lecture coloniale [1976] », dans G. Albergoni, S. Ben Meriem, F. Pouillon (dir.), Berbères, Arabes, colonisation(s). Notes anthropologiques sur l’Extrême-Sud tunisien, Sfax: CEDU MED ALI, pp. 23-62.

O. Benaïssa (1999), « Le soufisme algérien à l’époque colonial », Horizons Maghrébins – Le droit à la mémoire, n. 41, pp. 91-103.

J. McDougall (2009), « État, société et culture chez les intellectuels de l’iṣlāḥ maghrébin (Algérie et Tunisie, c.1890-1940), ou la réforme comme apprentissage de l’arriération », dans. O. Moreau (dir.), Réforme de l’état et réformismes au Maghreb, XIXème-XXème siècles, Paris: L'Harmattan, pp. 281-306.

A. Jomier (2012), « Iṣlâḥ ibâdite et intégration nationale : vers une communauté mozabite ? (1925-1964) », REMMM, n. 132, pp. 175-195.

4. La construction des États indépendants entre territorialisation et mobilité

H. Bresc et C. Veauvy (dir.) (2000), Mutations, identités en Méditerranée. Moyen Âge et époque contemporaine, Saint-Denis: Editions Bouchène, pp. 7-40.

L. Malkki (1995), « Refugees and Exile: From ‘refugee studies’ to the national order of things », Annual Review of Anthropology, vol. 24, pp. 495-523.

Plus, deux contributions à choisir entre:

L. Anderson (1987), « The State in the Middle East and North Africa », Comparative Politics, 20 (1), pp. 1-18.

S. el- Mechat (2005), « L'improbable "Nation arabe". La Ligue des États arabes et l'indépendance du Maghreb (1945-1956) », Vingtième Siècle. Revue d'histoire, n. 82, pp. 57 – 68.

5. Autoritarismes, oppositions et mouvements islamiques

C. Ahmed (2006), « Introduction : le renouveau de l’Islam Soufi », Archives de sciences sociales des religions, 51 (135), pp. 9-15.

M. Arkoun (1982), « Islam et développement dans le Maghreb indépendante », Arabica, 29 (2), pp. 113-142.

L. Martinez (1998), La Guerre Civile en Algérie, Paris : CERI/Karthala, intro.

F. Vairel (2004), « Le Maroc des années de plomb : équité et réconciliation ?», Politique Africaine, 96 (4), pp. 181-195.

MODULE II – Mobilisations politiques du temps présent entre mémoire, histoire et patrimoine

6. Soulèvements populaires et changements de régime

H. Ayeb (2011), « Géographie sociale et géopolitique de la révolution tunisienne : la révolution de l'Alfa », Maghreb – Machrek, n. 210, vol. 4, pp. 61 – 77.

A. Bayat, S. Dayan-Herzbrun (2012), « Des révolutions post-islamistes », Tumultes, n. 38-39, vol. 1-2, pp. 43-53.

J. – F. Bayarth (2014), « Retour sur les Printemps Arabes », Politique Africaine, n. 133, vol. 1, pp. 153 – 173.

M. Lahamar (1985), « La «Rèvolte du Pain» dans la campagne tunisienne. Notables, ouvrières et fellahs », Esprit, n. 100, vol. 4, pp. 9-19.

7. Transitions politiques, mouvements identitaires et revendications de pluralisme

Bono I. (2015), « La démographie de l’injustice sociale au Maroc. Les aléas de l’appartenance nationale », dans BONO I. , HIBOU B., MEDDEB H. et TOZY M., L’état d’injustice au Maghreb. Maroc et Tunisie, Paris: Karthala, ch. 1.

D. Merolla, A. Dahraoui (2018), « 'Le sentiment d’être chez soi' sur les sites amazighs et le 'printemps arabe’ : déconstructions et renégociations sur le Web », dans M. Tilmatine, T. Desrues (dir.), Les revendications amazighes dans la tourmente des « printemps arabes » : Trajectoires historiques et évolutions récentes des mouvements identitaires en Afrique du Nord [en ligne], Rabat : Centre Jacques-Berque, pp. 289-322.

Nahhass B. (2015), «Un musée pour gouverner la marginalité. Les conflits de patrimonialisation dans le Rif », dans HIBOU B. et BONO I. (dir.), Le gouvernement du social au Maroc, Paris: Karthala, ch. 6.

S. Pouessel (2012), « Les marges renaissantes : Amazigh, Juif, Noir. Ce que la révolution a changé dans ce « petit pays homogène par excellence » qu'est la Tunisie », L’Année du Maghreb, n. 8, pp. 143-160.

8. Exile, migrations et mobilités

F. de Bel-Air (2014), « Introduction. Migration et politique au Moyen-Orient: populations, territoires, citoyennetés à l’aube du XXIe siècle », dans F. de Bel-Air (dir.), Migration et politique au Moyen-Orient, Beyrout : Presses de l’Ifpo, pp. 7 – 35.

K. Doraï, C. Roussel (2015), « Crises des Etats au Moyen-Orient. Conflits, circulations et migrations forcées », dans C. Schmoll, H. Thiollet, C. Wihtol de Wenden (dirs.), Migrations en Méditerranée : Permanences et mutations à l'heure des révolutions et des crises, Paris : CNRS Editions, pp. 113-124.

F. Souiah, « Brûler les frontières : fuite ou contestations ? », dans A. Allal, V. Geisser (dir.), Tunisie. Une démocratisation au-dessus de tout soupçon ? Paris : CRS éditions et Tunis : Nirvana éditions, pp. 377 – 394.

9. Religion et questions de genre

Z. Ali (2020), Féminismes islamiques (2éme ed.), Paris : La Fabrique, pp. 9-30

V. Beaumont (2013), « Homosexualités du monde arabe. La jeunesse entre tabou, transgression et affirmation identitaire », dans T. de Montbrial, P. Moreau Defarges (dir.), « Les jeunes : vers l'explosion ? », Ramses, 2014, pp. 168-173.

L. – M. Zahed (2018), « Minorités de genre dans la Tunisie post-Ben Ali : du panarabisme viriliste et radical aux identités laïques et déislamisées ? », dans A. Allal, V. Geisser (dir.), Tunisie. Une démocratisation au-dessus de tout soupçon ? Paris : CRS éditions et Tunis : Nirvana éditions, pp. 331-342.

10. La question de la "race" entre histoire et présent

D. E. M. Gubara (2018), « Revisiting Race and Slavery through ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti’s ‘Aja’ib al-athar» , Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, n. 38, vol. 2, pp. 230 – 245.

M. Abdelhamid (2018), « De la libération de la parole raciste à l’émergence d’un mouvement contre le racisme anti-noir », dans A. Allal, V. Geisser (dir.), Tunisie. Une démocratisation au-dessus de tout soupçon ? Paris : CRS éditions et Tunis : Nirvana éditions, pp. 343-356.

C. Sadai (2021), « Racisme anti-Noirs au Maghreb : dévoilement(s) d’un tabou », Hérodote, n. 180, vol. 1, pp. 131-148.

11. Présentation et discussion des travailles de group I

12. Présentation et discussion des travailles de group II

Teaching methods

The course will consist of 12 seminar lessons, and will therefore require the students' active participation as well as a high degree of interaction during class.

Active learning strategies will be adopted throughout the seminar (e.g. flipped classroom, teamwork, small bibliographic research, and small in-class writing assignments). Moreover, the discussion of controversial topics related to the course's theme will be strongly encouraged.

Participants will be provided with selected readings for each lesson. They will be expected to read, analyse, and reflect on these study materials between lessons, as class interaction and active participation are considered essential to the completion of the course.

At the end of the first third of the course, participants will be invited to form groups and identify a case study of their interest, to be agreed with the teacher and to be pursued during the rest of the seminars. The last two meetings will be devoted to each students group's presentation of their case studies, which will be discussed with the rest of the class.

Assessment methods

The acquisition of knowledge and skills expected from the attending students will be assessed as follows: 1. participation in class discussion (25%); 2. final group presentation on a chosen case/theme (25%); 3. final individual essay (50%). Therefore, attendance in class and active participation in discussions are strongly encouraged.

Attending students

Students who will attend at least 75% of the classes will be considered as "attending students". Their active participation in the course will count for the 25% of the total evaluation, while the additional 25% of their grade will depend on the quality of the group work done for the final presentation. Any absence must be communicated and justified in advance.

The final examination will consist of an essay (5,000 words) on a specific topic to be agreed with the professor, which will represent the remaining 50% of the total assessment for "attending students".

Non-attending students

Non-attending students will also be required to submit a final essay which will represent 40% of their assessment. The remaining 60% of their grade will depend on an oral examination. The oral examination will consist of four/five questions that will allow the instructor to assess the student's level of knowledge of some of the most important topics covered by the course, as well as their ability to critically analyse and verbally articulate them.

In both cases, the final assessment will be the average of the final essay mark and the mark for participation in class discussions and group work/or the oral examination for non-attending students.

The student's ability to achieve a coherent and comprehensive understanding of the topics covered by the course, to evaluate them critically, and to use appropriate language will be assessed with the highest grades (A = 27-30 con lode).

A mainly mnemonic acquisition of the course content as well as gaps and deficiencies in language and critical and/or logical skills will result in grades ranging from good (B = 24-26) to satisfactory (C = 21-23).

A low level of knowledge of the course content, together with gaps and deficiencies in language, critical and/or logical skills, will be considered "barely adequate" (D = 18-20) or might result in a fail (E).

Teaching tools

Lectures and class discussions will be supported by audiovisual tools (ppt, web, short documentaries)

Office hours

See the website of Chiara Pagano