CFA: MENA Workshop Fellows

Posted on Posted in Workshops

 Research Development Workshop

The Politics of Identity in the Middle East and North Africa

December 14-19, 2024 – Kuwait City

The American Political Science Association (APSA) is pleased to announce a Call for Applications from early-career scholars who would like to participate in a 1-week in-person workshop that examines the theme of identity politics in the MENA region. Organized in partnership with the Center for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies at Kuwait University (KU), the program will be held from December 14-19, 2024 at KU. The organizers will cover participation costs, including travel, lodging, and materials, for up to 20 qualified applicants. Following their full participation in the program, fellows will receive a three-year membership to APSA. The deadline for applications is Sunday, September 22, 2024.

The workshop is part of a multi-year effort to support political science research among early-career scholars in the MENA region and to strengthen research networks linking Arab scholars with their colleagues overseas. More information on APSA’s MENA programming can be found online at http://web.apsanet.org/mena/.

Eligible Participants: Applications are open to advanced graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are citizens of countries in the MENA region. The program is tailored for scholars in political science and other social science disciplines undertaking research that examines the theme of identity politics in the MENA region, particularly those working on projects that use in-country fieldwork, rely on original data collection, and offer new approaches to the study of identity politics in a comparative perspective. Priority will be given to scholars currently based at universities or research institutes in the region. Professional fluency in English is required.

Workshop Theme

The workshop will be led by Drs. Hamad Albloshi (Kuwait University), Sarah Almutairi (Kuwait University), Lisa Blaydes (Stanford University), and Daniel L. Tavana (Penn State University). Together with selected workshop fellows, co-leaders will focus on growing social scientific interest in the study of identity politics in the MENA region. Recent scholarship in political science has drawn new attention to how identity shapes patterns of governance and distributive outcomes, the importance of identity in understanding the migration of peoples and ideas, the role of social media in encouraging identity-based movements and contentious politics, and identity as a potential driver of domestic and intra-state conflict. Given the diversity of identity in the region, applicants are also encouraged to submit single-country studies that aim to explore these questions in individual countries. Co-leaders are especially interested in research projects that use a variety of diverse methods that engage with these broader debates. These methods may include (but are not limited to) quantitative methods, qualitative and/or interpretative methods, experimental methods, and other methods that draw on the collection of original data. Co-leaders will work closely with workshop fellows to refine their manuscripts and position their contributions in broader academic debates and controversies. Through feedback-focused panels, professional development sessions, and substantive modules that focus on these questions, participants will receive critical feedback on the substance and design of their research projects from both co-leaders and fellow peers. During the workshop, fellows will have the opportunity to hone their ideas and arguments, set revision and writing goals, and develop plans for the submission of their research projects for publication.

The workshop organizers seek applications for projects that focus primarily on the following sub-themes:

  • The measurement and operationalization of identity: How are identity-based categories of social difference (such as ethnic, racial, gender, tribal, religious, and sectarian identities) assigned, measured, and operationalized? What innovative tools, methods, and approaches can be used to improve scholarly understandings of identity? How can we effectively define and categorize various identities in MENA

The American Political Science Association APSA MENA Workshops 1527 New Hampshire Avenue, NW http://web.apsanet.org/mena/ Washington, DC 20036 menaworkshops@apsanet.org

  • What challenges arise in the operationalization and measurement of identity politics when comparing different MENA countries, and how can researchers address these challenges to ensure validity and reliability?
  • Identity, electoral politics, and social movements: In what ways do social movements in the MENA region mobilize around identity-based issues, and how do these movements affect electoral politics and policy change? How do elites and other political entrepreneurs use these identities in political discourse? What is the role of identity-based political parties in the MENA region, and how do they shape electoral and voter behavior?
  • Identity, conflict, and cooperation: What are the limits of understanding identity as a driver of conflict in the MENA region? Which identities have been neglected in existing work that seeks to understand the causes and consequences of civil war, state repression, and other forms of violence? What challenges do identity-based attachments pose for post-conflict reconciliation and nation-building? How does identity shape emergent forms of cooperation between the MENA states and peoples and external actors?
  • Gender and gender identities: How do Middle East and North African scholars engage with and address feminist issues of research and activism? What opportunities exist for women to engage with existing authorities to mobilize for social and political change? In what ways do political and cultural attitudes influence the perceptions and treatment of women in MENA?
  • Religion and religious identities: How do different religious communities coexist and interact in with the state in different institutions in MENA? How do religious identities influence political movements and conflict in MENA? How do these movements shape regional stability and international relations? In what ways do regimes engage with both domestic and regional religious movements?
  • International relations: How does identity influence the foreign policies of MENA states, and how do these dynamics affect regional alliances and conflicts? How do external interventions by foreign states interact with local identity politics? What are the implications of this engagement for national sovereignty and regional autonomy? How does identity politics influence state policy towards refugees and migrants, and what are the international ramifications of these policies? How does identity influence economic relations, trade policy, and development?

Applications that explore other sub-themes related to the study of politics of identity in the MENA region are also welcome. Interested applicants should review the eligibility requirements and program expectations on the APSA website, then follow the web link to the online Application Form. Completed applications, including all necessary supporting documents (in PDF or Word format), must be submitted by Sunday, September 22, 2024. Selected fellows will be notified by mid-October.

Applications must be in English and include:

  1. The completed online Application Form.
  2. A detailed recent Curriculum Vitae/resume.
  3. A research statement (2,000 words maximum) describing the work-in-progress you plan to discuss at the workshop. This statement should outline your research question(s), a brief literature review, the methods used and/or your plans for data-collection/fieldwork, the project’s (anticipated) contribution(s) to the field, and how it relates to the workshop theme(s). The research project should not be any part of a co-authored project and should not be an excerpt from a work that is already completed or accepted for publication. Research projects currently in-progress (i.e., at the proposal stage, data collection/analysis stage, or writing stage) will be accepted. Submissions may be derived from a dissertation project if it fits the workshop theme.
  4. One letter of reference on official letterhead and scanned as electronic file. If you are a graduate student, the letter should be from your dissertation / academic supervisor. If you are a postdoctoral fellow, the letter can come from a former dissertation supervisor, a colleague at your home institution, a university official, or an employer. Your letter can be uploaded with your application materials or sent directly to menaworkshops@apsanet.org.

For more information and questions, check our website or contact us at menaworkshops@apsanet.org; please do not contact the co-leaders directly.