Many states and societies across the so-called Arab World witnessed protests, upheavals and political violence during 2011 and since. In this seminar we compare various protest movements and authoritarian regimes across the region since 2011 and focus on explaining the various outcomes of these contentious episodes. Therefore, we start by introducing concepts and methods for analysing contentious politics in authoritarian regimes in the first five sessions. In the second part we then look into the effects of protests on democratisation and human rights in several countries affected by the protests during 2011. We will discuss in depth the transition trajectories of cases of: Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, Morocco and Jordan. In the third part – the last two sessions – we then compare the consequences of different transition trajectories during the Arab Uprisings for democracy and the human rights situation in the region and discuss their policy implications for policymakers.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
