ARBC6901 - Issues in Arab Political Culture

Semester 2, 2011  |  Credit Points: 6

Coordinator: Nijmeh Hajjar
Phone: +61 2 9036 7011
Email: nijmeh.hajjar@sydney.edu.au

Description

This unit of study focuses on the question of political culture in the modern Arab World (in West Asia and North Africa) through in-depth discussion of the historical, sociological, and ideological factors that have contributed to the patterns of political behaviour in the Arab states. The dialectics of unity and diversity and of change and continuity are running themes in the methodology of this course. Special attention is given to the particular historical experiences of different Arab countries. Main topics include: The significance of the classical Islamic and Ottoman legacies; the question of political legitimacy; primordial (local, tribal, ethnic, confessional) loyalties versus political integration; tensions between pan-Arab Nationalism and the idea of the "nation-state"; the Arab regional system; the place of question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict in Arab political culture; Arab politics between "secularisation" and Islamic radicalism. The course addresses these issues in concrete historical and sociolgical terms.

Assessments

2x2000wd essays (70%), 2x1000wd oral presentations (30%)

Classes

2x1-hr seminars/week

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