Arab Studies Institute and Asfari Institute Present: Exploring an Agenda for Active Citizenship (Beirut, Feb. 20-22)

`Exploring an Agenda for Active Citizenship`

First Annual Conference

A conference co-sponsored by the Arab Studies Institute and the Asfari Institute

Date and Time: 8am Friday 20 February through 5:30pm Sunday 22 February

Location: Beirut, Lebanon

The February 2015 conference commemorates the fourth anniversary of the revolts that began in Tunisia in the final days of 2010 and rapidly spread to nearly half the countries of the Arab region. The revolts provided a stellar example of the power of citizen engagement as millions of people took to the streets and toppled long-time authoritarian regimes or leaders, changing perceptions of the “Arab Street” for good. Four years later, where are those millions? How do we understand and assess their successes or failures in achieving their demands for freedom, dignity and social justice? Do we know enough about the historical roots of civil society activism in the region to ascribe cause-and-effect in regard to these events? What are the medium and long-term prospects for the future of citizenship participation in the public sphere, given the current realities? What are the factors that give rise to hope in some countries or open the pit of despair in others?

The conference does not claim to assess the Arab uprisings as such. Rather, it aims to shed light on the dynamics of civil society and citizen activism in the region, and to promote an understanding of the historical, political, economic and legal factors affecting this activism. It also aims to gather collective wisdom as to the short-and long-term potential for continued citizen engagement, fill knowledge gaps, assist the Asfari Institute to develop its research agenda, and point the way to future programming.

The conference will be live tweeted. Follow @AsfariInstitute to keep up with all the analysis and discussion.

Conference Program

Day 1: Friday 20 February 2015

8:00-8:45: Conference Registration

Bathish Auditorium, West Hall, American University of Beirut (AUB)

9:00-9:30: Welcome and Opening Session

Fateh Azzam, Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, AUB
Bassam Haddad, Arab Studies Institute, George Mason University, U.S.
Ahmad Dallal, Provost, AUB

9:30-11:00: Panel 1: Civil Society in Arab Region: Concepts and Case Studies (1)

Chair: Fateh Azzam, Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, AUB
Civil society: Theoretically ambitious and practically misused in the Middle East
Lina Suleiman, KTH Royal Institute for Technology, Sweden; and
Michael Schultz, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Towards a Maghribi civil society (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria), by Ammar Djeffal, Universite D’Alger 3, Algeria
Redefining the civil society scene in Jordan, by Heba Al Nasser, Chatham House, UK; and Mohammad Qasem Al-Hamad, Juman for Civil Society Empowerment, Jordan

11:00-11:30: Break

11:30-1:15: Panel 2: Civil Society in Arab Region: Concepts and Case Studies (2)

Chair: Rania Masri, Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, AUB
Civil Society and Political Movements in Egypt: From Neglect to Stabilization and from Leadership to Stigmatization, by Dina El-Khawaga, Arab Reform Initiative
The Political Economy of Social Change: from the moral economy of the peasants to the “Arab Spring” in Egypt by Dina Mansour, The Arab Council for the Social Sciences
Framing the Discourse and Priorities of the Palestinian Youth Movement in the West Bank, by Ayman Yousef, Arab American University, occupied Palestine
Sharing Power or Continued Status Quo? The Trials and Tribulations of the Disability Rights Movement in Lebanon, by Maha Damaj, AUB

1:15-2:30: Lunch

2:30-4:00: Panel 3: Civil Society in Arab Region: Concepts and Case Studies (3)

Chair: Bassam Haddad, Arab Studies Institute, George Mason University
The Structural Transformation of Palestinian Civil Society, by Tariq Da’na, Birzeit University, occupied Palestine
Between Neglect and Interference: The Impact of Foreign Policies on the Development of [Arab] Civil Society: the Case of Syria, by Leila Hilal, New America Foundation, U.S.
The Past and Future of Syrian Civil Society, by Salam Kawakibi, Arab Reform Initiative

4:00-4:30: Break

4:30-5:30: Open Discussion

Facilitator: Rania Masri, Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, AUB
Open discussion; sharing of reactions and ideas

Day 2: Saturday 21 February 2015

9:00-10:30: Panel 4: Citizenship in the Arab Region: Concepts and Case Studies (1)

Chair: Sami Attallah, The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies
Egyptian Citizenship and Arab Solidarities: Changing Dynamics After January 25^th, by Omneya Ragab, researcher and writer; and Asmaa Naguib, Zyara Egypt
Religion, Democracy and Women in Egyptian textbooks before and after 2011, by Patrycja Sasnal, Polish Institute of International Affairs and Jagiellonian University
A Tale of Two Trade Unions: How contrasting historical legacies have dictated the roles and actions of trade union federations in post-revolutionary Tunisia and Egypt, by Leila Kabalan and Mark Bracher, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, AUB

10:30-11:00: Break

11:00-12:30: Panel 5: Citizenship in the Arab region: Concepts and Case Studies (2)

Chair: Hind Ghandour, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Framing and Claiming Citizenship in the GCC, by Ala’a Shehabi, University of Lund, Sweden
Saudi Arabia and the Concept of Citizenship, by Florence Borot, IRIS Sup – L`école des Relations Internationales de l`IRIS, France

12:30-2:00: Lunch

2:00-3:30: Panel 6: Citizenship in the Arab Region: Concepts and Case Studies (3)

Chair: Omar Dewachi, AUB
Mechanisms for Activating Citizenship in Iraq , by Ali Al-Masoodi, Baghdad University, Iraq
Organic Citizenship: the Case of Iraq , by Abdul Hussein Shaaban, author and human rights activist
Empowering Women in Public and Political Life in the MENA region: Reflections on the potential (and limits) of action research as ethos, methodology and practice, by Suzanne Hammad, International NGO Training and Research Center, U.K.; and Tamara Alkhas, British Council, Jordan

3:30-4:00: Break

4:00-5:30: Panel 7: Examinations from Different Lenses

Chair: Sami Ofeish, University of Balamand, Lebanon
The Arab Graphic Arts in the context of the current revolutions: a journey in the margins , by Marwan Al-Allan, University of Philadelphia, Jordan
The Arab Spring and the Economic Alternatives: Society organizing itself, by Wael Gamal, Journalist and Researcher
The Presence of Social Sciences in Arab Civil Society Organizations, by Rima Majed, AUB

7:00: Dinner and Cultural Evening, Metro el Madina, Hamra Street

7:00 – 8.30 Dinner and music
8:30 – 10:30 Poetry, theatre and musical performances
10:30 – midnight Dance party with DJ Bassam

Day 3: Sunday 22 February 2015

9:00-10:30: Panel 8: The Rulers and the Ruled

Chair: Sbeih Sbeih, Birzeit University
Post-Revolution: Civil society and the democratic transformation in Egypt , by Mohamed Elagati, Arab Forum for Alternatives, Egypt
Explaining the Constraints on Civic Activism in Libya: Appraising the 2011-2013 Case of Constitutional Development, by Carmen Geha, AUB
Beyond ‘Business as Usual’: Regime-Society relations in Jordan four years after 2011, by Ziad Abu Rish, Ohio University, U.S.

10:30-11:00: Break

11:00-12:30: Panel 9: The Rulers and the Ruled (2)

Chair: Hassan Abbas, Syrian League for Citizenship
Focus on the Relationship between the Rulers and the Ruled in the Era of the Arab Uprisings, by Massoud Daher, Lebanese University
Beyond the ‘Moroccan Exception’: Historicizing state and civil society relations in Morocco, by Samia Errazzouki, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University, U.S.
The Role of Syrian Civil Society in Mediation and Peacemaking in Syria, by Rim Turkmani, London School of Economics and Political Science, U.K.

12:30-2:00: Lunch

2:00-4:30: Open Discussion: Elements for a Future Agenda

Facilitators:

Ziad Abdel Samad, Arab NGO Network for Development;
Fateh Azzam, Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, AUB;
Bassam Haddad, Arab Studies Institute, George Mason University; and
Rania Masri, Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, AUB

-- Summary and reflections of the papers

-- Recommendations for future action, research, collaboration

-- Closing remarks