School of Social and Political Science

Description

The Middle East Research Group hosts interdisciplinary research activities undertaken by academic staff and postgraduates from across the College of Humanities and Social Science with a research interest and expertise on the modern and contemporary politics of the Middle East. We run two regular series of events: research seminars, usually on alternate Thursday lunchtimes on members' work-in-progress where we read ahead and give comments; and public-facing events and book launches with the Contemporary Middle East Series (CMES.)

 Our members's work has been internationally recognised, as illustrated by: the various research grants we obtained, such as the Marie Skłodowska-Curie and the Leverhulme fellowships; our editorial affiliations  with University of Edinburgh Press and journals like Constellations: An International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory; our involvement as consultants with international organisations such as UNESCO, UN Women, International Centre for Transitional Justice, and the World Bank and with professional associations such as the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Council. Our publications have also received prizes and award nominations. Members of the group were also active in the establishment of the Middle East Network in Scotland, which brings together scholars of the region who are based in Scottish universities.

Key Research Themes

• Critical political economy of the Middle East
• International law and the Middle East
• International Relations and the Middle East
• Humanitarianism
• Political Islam
• Social movements
• Social and political theories of the state
• Gulf politics
• Social and political theories in the Middle East
• Politics and sociology of knowledge

Research Group Convenors

• Jamie Allinson

Research Group Activities

Our Middle East Research Group (MERG) seminar series is an interdisciplinary space that is geared towards discussing  work-in-progress by PhD and MS by Research students at UoE, whose research focuses on the modern and contemporary Middle East politics. UoE graduate students in research degrees, fellows and colleagues whose research is related to the region are welcome to join the seminar series. We usually meet on alternative Thursday lunchtimes at 1pm.  Our Contemporary Middle East Series (CMES), sponsored by Politics and IR, hosts public lectures, roundtables and teach-ins on modern and contemporary issues related to the region. To date, this interdisciplinary series has featured book launches, research workshops, and roundtables by scholars and experts who are based in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Please visit the PIR Events Page to sign up: https://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/news-events/events 

Find us on X (Twitter): @MEGPUoE

2024-25 Seminar Series Schedule

Semester One

• 22 November – Book launch Dismantling Green Colonialism: Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region with Hamza Hamouchene and Manal Shqair.
• 28 November – Work-in-Progress seminar, 'Syrian Refugee Brokers in Turkey after the Earthquake', Ann-Christin Zuntz.

Semester Two

• 16 January – Book launch ‘Making Space for the Gulf: Histories of Regionalism and the Middle East’ Stanford University Press 2024 Arang Keshavarzian.
• 30 January – ‘Neither East, Nor West: Histories of Non-Alignment and Third Worldism in modern Iran’ with Eskandar Sadeghi Bouroujerdi and Lucy Abbott.
• 13 February – After the revolution: what next for Syria and Syrians? Hosted with The Citizenship and Migration Network, and PIR’s Politics in Contested Times Series.
• 21 February – Book launch Fabricating Homeland Security: Policy entanglements across India and Palestine/ Israel, with Rhys Machold.
• 13 March – Reclaiming Watani Work: Young Activists' Challenge to Hegemonic Identity Logic in Jordan
• 18 March – Hassan Jabareen (Adalah). Lecture title TBC. Hosted by Edinburgh Centre for International and Global Law
• 24 April – The Politics of the Iraqi Personal Status Law. A conversation with Razaw Salihy (Amnesty International). Co-sponsored with Alwaleed bin Talal Centre.
• 15 May – Insights from a Career in International Affairs with Nicholas Hopton | School of Social and Political Science
• 15 May – Britain and the New Order in the Middle East | School of Social and Political Science

Links to the events will be updated progressively and advertised on the SPS Events website.

Research-led Teaching

Please find below a list of courses that our representative of the Middle East Research Group's work;

• Politics of the Middle East, PLIT10036 (UG)
• Law, Violence, and Humanity, PLIT10125 (UG)
• Political Islam, PLIT10089 (UG)
• Gulf Politics, PLIT11020 (UG)
• Politics of Oil, PLIT10123 (UG)
• Social Movements and Collective Action in the Middle East, PLIT10128 (UG)
• The Middle East in International Relations, PGSP11275 (PG)
• Survey in Middle Eastern Politics, PGSP 11572 (PG)
• Political Theory and Critique in the Middle East, PGSP 11571 (PG)