Book launch: Benoît Challand discusses violence and representation in Tunisia and Yemen In brief Date - 20 November 2023 Venue - Project Room 1.06, 50 George Square Speaker - Dr Benoît Challand (The New School for Social Research) Discussant - Dr Nida Alahmad (University of Edinburgh) About the event Providing a longue durée perspective on the Arab uprisings of 2011, Benoît Challand narrates the transformation of citizenship in the Arab Middle East, from a condition of latent citizenship in the colonial and post-independence era to the revolutionary dynamics that stimulated democratic participation in the region in 2011. Considering the parallel histories of citizenship and marginalization in Yemen and Tunisia, Challand develops innovative theories of violence and representation. He argues that a new collective imaginary, or the collective force of the people, emerged as a force, representing itself as the sovereign power that could decide when violence ought to be used to protect all citizens from corrupt power. Shedding light upon uprisings in Yemen, Tunisia, but also elsewhere in the Middle East, this book offers deeper insights into conceptions of violence, representation, and democracy. It compares the post-2011 efforts to build a decentralized political order in Tunisia with the calls for federalism in Yemen, and the shared demands for democratic accountability over the means of coercion. This event is co-hosted by the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, The Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, and the Politics and International Relations Middle East Research Group. About the speaker Benoît Challand is associate professor of Sociology at The New School for Social Research, New York. He holds a PhD from the EUI in Florence (2005), and has held positions as assistant professor at NYU (Kevorkian Center for Near East Studies), associate professor in Sociology at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence and professor of contemporary history at the University of Fribourg. He is author of the books 'Violence and Representation in the Arab Uprisings' (Cambridge University Press, 2023), and 'Palestinian Civil Society. Foreign Donors and the Power to Promote and Exclude' (Routledge, 2009). His work has been translated into Arabic and has numerous co-authored publications such as The Arab Uprisings and Foreign Assistance (co-edited with F. Bicchi and S. Heydemann, Routledge 2016), and Imagining Europe: Myth, Memory and Identity, co-authored with Chiara Bottici (Cambridge University Press 2013). He is also interested in democratic theory, Western European Marxism, and settler colonialism. About the discussant Dr Nida Alahmad is lecturer in politics and international relations of the Middle East in the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, and Co-Director of CRITIQUE: Centre for Ethics and Critical Thought. Prior to joining the University of Edinburgh, she was a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow at the Department of Conflict and Development Studies, Ghent University (2016-2018). She received her PhD from the New School for Social Research, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University and a visiting fellow and research associate at The European University Institute. Nida has worked as a consultant with a number of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) including the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Center for Transitional Justice. In addition to other publications, she is currently finalising a book manuscript titled 'State Matters: Theorising state consolidation from Iraq'. How to attend This event is free to attend and open to all. Registration is not required - just come along. Are you interested in studying with us? We are the only university in Scotland to offer courses in the Muslim world's three main languages, placing Arabic, Persian and Turkish in the context of history, literature, culture, religion and politics, past and present. Choose from a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, including PhD programmes. Find out more about Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Edinburgh Nov 20 2023 17.10 - 18.30 Book launch: Benoît Challand discusses violence and representation in Tunisia and Yemen Join us for the in-person book launch of 'Violence and Representation in the Arab Uprisings' by Dr Benoît Challand (The New School for Social Research) with a response from Dr Nida Alahmad (University of Edinburgh). Project Room 1.06 50 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9LH Find the venue
Book launch: Benoît Challand discusses violence and representation in Tunisia and Yemen In brief Date - 20 November 2023 Venue - Project Room 1.06, 50 George Square Speaker - Dr Benoît Challand (The New School for Social Research) Discussant - Dr Nida Alahmad (University of Edinburgh) About the event Providing a longue durée perspective on the Arab uprisings of 2011, Benoît Challand narrates the transformation of citizenship in the Arab Middle East, from a condition of latent citizenship in the colonial and post-independence era to the revolutionary dynamics that stimulated democratic participation in the region in 2011. Considering the parallel histories of citizenship and marginalization in Yemen and Tunisia, Challand develops innovative theories of violence and representation. He argues that a new collective imaginary, or the collective force of the people, emerged as a force, representing itself as the sovereign power that could decide when violence ought to be used to protect all citizens from corrupt power. Shedding light upon uprisings in Yemen, Tunisia, but also elsewhere in the Middle East, this book offers deeper insights into conceptions of violence, representation, and democracy. It compares the post-2011 efforts to build a decentralized political order in Tunisia with the calls for federalism in Yemen, and the shared demands for democratic accountability over the means of coercion. This event is co-hosted by the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, The Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, and the Politics and International Relations Middle East Research Group. About the speaker Benoît Challand is associate professor of Sociology at The New School for Social Research, New York. He holds a PhD from the EUI in Florence (2005), and has held positions as assistant professor at NYU (Kevorkian Center for Near East Studies), associate professor in Sociology at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence and professor of contemporary history at the University of Fribourg. He is author of the books 'Violence and Representation in the Arab Uprisings' (Cambridge University Press, 2023), and 'Palestinian Civil Society. Foreign Donors and the Power to Promote and Exclude' (Routledge, 2009). His work has been translated into Arabic and has numerous co-authored publications such as The Arab Uprisings and Foreign Assistance (co-edited with F. Bicchi and S. Heydemann, Routledge 2016), and Imagining Europe: Myth, Memory and Identity, co-authored with Chiara Bottici (Cambridge University Press 2013). He is also interested in democratic theory, Western European Marxism, and settler colonialism. About the discussant Dr Nida Alahmad is lecturer in politics and international relations of the Middle East in the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, and Co-Director of CRITIQUE: Centre for Ethics and Critical Thought. Prior to joining the University of Edinburgh, she was a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow at the Department of Conflict and Development Studies, Ghent University (2016-2018). She received her PhD from the New School for Social Research, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University and a visiting fellow and research associate at The European University Institute. Nida has worked as a consultant with a number of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) including the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Center for Transitional Justice. In addition to other publications, she is currently finalising a book manuscript titled 'State Matters: Theorising state consolidation from Iraq'. How to attend This event is free to attend and open to all. Registration is not required - just come along. Are you interested in studying with us? We are the only university in Scotland to offer courses in the Muslim world's three main languages, placing Arabic, Persian and Turkish in the context of history, literature, culture, religion and politics, past and present. Choose from a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, including PhD programmes. Find out more about Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Edinburgh Nov 20 2023 17.10 - 18.30 Book launch: Benoît Challand discusses violence and representation in Tunisia and Yemen Join us for the in-person book launch of 'Violence and Representation in the Arab Uprisings' by Dr Benoît Challand (The New School for Social Research) with a response from Dr Nida Alahmad (University of Edinburgh). Project Room 1.06 50 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9LH Find the venue
Nov 20 2023 17.10 - 18.30 Book launch: Benoît Challand discusses violence and representation in Tunisia and Yemen Join us for the in-person book launch of 'Violence and Representation in the Arab Uprisings' by Dr Benoît Challand (The New School for Social Research) with a response from Dr Nida Alahmad (University of Edinburgh).
