LSE Middle East Centre Podcasts

Speaker: Roger Owen, Harvard University Chair: Charles Tripp, LSE Roger Owen offers a personal history of the emergence of modern Middle Eastern Studies as a distinct multi-disciplinary field, focusing mainly on the creation of University Centres in London, Oxford, Harvard and others by a set of academic entrepreneurs beginning with Sir Hamilton Gibb.

Speaker: Madawi Al-Rasheed, LSE Middle East Centre Chair: Sumi Madhok, LSE Professor Al-Rasheed introduces her new book and discusses the ‘question of women’ in Saudi Arabia in the context of interconnection between state, religion and society. Recorded on 7 October 2013.

Speakers: Laila El-Haddad, Maggie Schmitt Chair: Helena Cobbin, Just World Books In this event, writer Laila El-Haddad and food documentarian Maggie Schmitt discuss their book 'The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey', which represent the first-ever codification of Gaza's rich culinary heritage. Recorded on 8 May 2013.

Speakers: Steffen Hertog, LSE; Giacomo Luciani, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies; Marc Valeri, University of Exeter; Khalid AlMezaini, Qatar University Chair: Jon Marks Although most Arab countries remain authoritarian, many have undergone a restructuring of state-society relations. This launch for 'Business Politics in the Middle East' (Hurst, 2013) covers the political role of regional capitalists during and after the Arab uprisings, prospects for the emergence of a more independent bourgeoisie, economic reform and new social contracts. Recorded on 21 March 2013.

Speaker: Ali Ansari, University of St Andrews Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE Middle East Centre Launching his latest book, 'The Politics of Nationalism in Modern Iran', Ali Ansari explores the idea of nationalism in the creation of modern Iran, considering the broader developments in national ideologies that took place following the emergence of the European Enlightenment and showing how these ideas were adopted by a non-European state. Recorded on 18 March 2013.

Speakers: Fawaz Gerges, LSE; Charles Tripp, SOAS Chair: Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, LSE What drives large-scale, popular mobilizations in the Middle East and North Africa? And what are the challenges and prospects for democratic transformation and consolidation in the region? This book launch for 'The New Middle East: Protest and Revolution in the Arab World' (CUP, 2013), explores these questions and more. Recorded on 21 February 2013.

Speaker: Valerie Bunce, Cornell University Chair: Fawaz Gerges, LSE Why do publics decide to challenge authoritarian rulers; why do they take different approaches to achieving these ends; and what explains the spread of such challenges across state boundaries? In this lecture, Valerie Bunce compares these three waves of popular challenges to authoritarian rulers providing insights into the MENA dynamic and important issues related to cross-national diffusion. Recorded on 4 February 2013.

Speaker: Rabah Aissaoui, University of Leicester Chair: John King, Society for Algerian Studies In this talk, Dr Aissaoui examines some key developments in the political mobilisation of Algerians prior to the Second World War. He looks at how the French colonial authorities, and more specifically the French security services, responded to the political situation in Algeria by implementing a number of changes to the intelligence gathering process, changes that were marked by internal conflicts and tensions. Recorded on 28 January 2013. Image credit: Wikipedia. 'French' Algiers.

Speaker: Dr Tariq Tell, American University of Beirut Chair: Professor Fawaz Gerges, LSE Dr Tell contextualises contemporary politics in Jordan by examining the history of the emergence and consolidation of the modern state in Jordan under Ottoman, British, and Hashemite rule. He explores how the sources of Hashemite social power in Jordan were forged and why they have proven more durable than those fashioned under more auspicious circumstances elsewhere in the Arab east. Recorded on 23 January 2013.

Speaker: Haleh Afshar Chair: Alastair Newton, BRISMES Prominent Muslim feminist Baroness Haleh Afshar speaks on the situation facing Iranian women in their country today. Recorded on 16 January 2013. Image credit: Wikipedia. Women protesting during the 1979 Iranian Revolution.