Modern Middle East Politics
POS 6933 (8865)
Woods
The course will take an historical institutionalist approach to the development of the modern Middle East
in the move from empire to nation-state. It would be ideal to be familiar with Weber's work on
bureaucratization, as well as James Scott's SEEING LIKE A STATE. That will form the basic framework for
analysis of all of our readings. Readings will include top-down as well as bottom-up analyses. We will then
move to major issues in 20th century Middle East politics, including: the European encounter with the
Middle East; Islamist politics in several cases; religion and politics more broadly; gender issues; rule of law;
rural/urban tensions and changes; and oil politics. Cases will include the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Yemen, Israel, Qatar, Lebanon, and others. Books will also be available on reserve.
Details about the books are available on textbook adoptions.
Grade Distribution
10%
30%
15%
15%
30%
Presentations and in-class discussion/participation
Abstracts (14)
5-page bibliographical essay (draft one of term paper)
10-page bibliographical essay (draft two of term paper)
15 to 18-page term paper (draft three/final draft of term paper)
Explanation of Assignments
Presentations and in-class discussion/participation
The course will be based on daily focused discussion of reading. Therefore, participation will be worth
10% of your grade. Your participation grade will include book presentations; each student will give a
presentation on two books. Given current enrollment at the writing of this syllabus, that means that two
students will present on each book that is assigned throughout the semester, and I will present on one of
them. Presentations should be approximately 15 minutes each (15 minutes per student presenting).
Presentations should focus on the central argument of the text as a whole; the most major three pieces of
evidence offered in support of that argument; the structure of the argument (the outline of the argument);
and then more specific details that the student found most compelling or interesting. This last piece should
not replace the more structural work of outlining and explaining the central argument, its parts, and how
they fit together.
Abstracts
Each student will present an abstract on each book. Abstracts should be 5-7 sentences, and should explain
the central argument of the text and three major pieces of evidence used to support that argument.
Abstracts should use direct, concise language (please avoid passive voice), while maintaining enough
substance and detail to give a robust story/account/explanation of the argument.
Bibliographical Essay in Three Drafts
Each student will prepare a bibliographical essay for the class. You will submit it in three drafts. The first
will be a 5-page essay, the second a 10-page essay, and the third a 15-18 page essay. The bibliographical
essay will take a major question in Middle East Politics and investigate how the literature addresses that
question. Ideally, the question should come out of our readings and be a question that can be answered
through our readings. You are not expected to use readings outside of our class materials, although you
can. Topics must be discussed and developed in coordination with me; they must be approved by me.
What you want to do in this essay is develop a concrete list of schools of thought in the literature as they
answer or approach your question. And then you will explain those schools of thought in some analytical
detail, on their own terms, then how they relate to one another, and then what your own approach to the
questions and schools of thought is.
The essays will follow a rigid structure as follows: first paragraph will set up your paradox, question, three
major schools of thought on that question as your find them in the literature, and what your answer or
approach to that question is, based on your analysis of the literature. The second paragraph will flesh out
some of the answers in the literature, and the third paragraph will flesh out the structure of your own
argument in a little bit more detail. Ideally, each of these paragraphs should be 5-9 sentences only. Here,
you are framing the outline of the paper in three-paragraph form. You are giving the reader a road map –
somewhat more detailed than a list, but just a road map – of where you will take them in the rest of the
paper.
From there, your paper should follow the structure of the argument that you have outlined in the first three
paragraphs. Each section should be organized around a school of thought (in the order you give them in
the first paragraph), always relating it back to your question, and always, at least in a sentence here or
there, relating it back to your own argument or approach to the question and to the school of thought under
discussion. The last section should frame out your argument in greater analytical detail, with citations to
relevant works, of course. Conclusions are usually brief, and simply outline the structure of the argument
and what you have done in brief form. (There is some flexibility here, but you should stay in close contact
with me about it.)
Please stay in close contact with me about your papers throughout the semester. That ensures that there is
no mis-communication about topic, content, approach, etc., which is in everyone’s best interest.
PRESENTATIONS OF DRAFTS. Please note, I will try to schedule presentations of the essay drafts, time
permitting. Presentations of essay drafts will go into your grade for that draft of the essay. Presentations
should be 5 minutes long, focus on your central argument, schools of thought you are finding, and the
approach you are developing yourself (your own argument). Students from class will give feedback on all
of the above. In this way, these will act as a brainstorming moment for the class as a whole.
Readings:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Sayid Qutb, Social Justice in Islam. Islamic Publications International, 2000.
Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt. University of California Press, 1991.
Edward Said, Orientalism. Vintage Books, 1st edition, 1979.
Jill Schwedler, Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen. Cambridge University
Press, 2007.
Nathan Brown, The Rule of Law in the Arab World. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Patricia J. Woods, Judicial Power and National Politics: Courts and Gender in the Religious-Secular
Conflict in Israel. SUNY Press Series in Israel Studies, 2008.
Lara Deeb, An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi'i Lebanon. Princeton University
Press, 2006.
Joel S. Migdal, Through the Lens of Israel: Explorations in State and Society. SUNY Press Series in
Israel Studies, 2001.
Anne Meneley, Tournaments of Value: Sociability and Hierarchy in a Yemeni Town. University of
Toronto Press, 1996.
Diane Singerman and Paul Amar, eds. Cairo Cosmopolitan: Politics, Culture, and Urban Space in the
New Globalized Middle East. American University in Cairo Press, 2009.
11. Jill Crystal, Oil Politics in the Gulf: Rulers and Merchants in Kuwait and Qatar. Cambridge University
Press, 1995.
12. Robert Vitalis, America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier. Verso Press, 2009.
13. Resat Kasaba, A Moveable Empire: Ottoman Nomads, Migrants, and Refugees. University of
Washington Press, 2009.
14. Karen Barkey, Empire of Difference: The Ottomans in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge
University Press, 2008.
Reading Schedule.
Week I
Week IX
Introductions
Nathan Brown
Week II
Week X
Sayid Qutb
Patricia Woods
Week III
Draft Two Due
Timothy Mitchell
Presentations on drafts, time permitting
Week IV
Week XI
Edward Said
Joel Migdal
Week V
Presentations on drafts, time permitting
Resat Kasaba
Week XII
Draft One Due
Diane Singerman and Paul Amar
Presentations on first drafts, time permitting
Week XIII
Week VI
Robert Vitalis
Karen Barkey
Week XIV
Presentations on first drafts, time permitting
Jill Crystal
Week VII
Presentations on final drafts
Jill Schwedler
Week XV
Week VIII
Lara Deeb
Anne Meneley
Presentations on final drafts
Final Draft Due Wednesday, May 2nd