CfP: APSA Conference - New Landscapes in MENA Politics Research

The American Political Science Association (APSA) is pleased to announce a Call for Papers from scholars interested in attending the upcoming APSA MENA Political Science Conference. This 3-day program offers an opportunity to share and receive critical feedback on research manuscripts, network with colleagues from across the MENA region, and contribute to current debates in the discipline.  

 

Organized in partnership with Columbia Global Centers | Amman, the conference will be held in Amman from July 28-30. Approximately 60 scholars will be invited to attend, including up to 30 alumni of the APSA MENA Workshops. With support from Carnegie Corporation of New York and other partners, the organizers will cover the cost of airfare and hotel accommodation for all invited scholars. This conference is part of APSA’s effort to support political science research among early-career scholars in the Arab Middle East and North Africa, and strengthen research networks linking Arab scholars with colleagues overseas. The working language of the conference is English.   

 

Conference Theme and Attendees

Reflecting on the last decade of MENA political science scholarship, this conference aspires to identify new research landscapes and build conscious research agendas for the coming years that can align our discipline with the contemporary realities and challenges that citizens of the region are experiencing. Looking back on scholarship at the cusp of Arab Spring, through wars in Libya, Yemen, and Syria and massive human displacement, considering regime change and resiliency, advancements in women’s rights and representation, and current implications of the global COVID-19 pandemic – how have current research agendas represented these realities, where does the discipline need to be pushed towards new priorities and approaches, and what types and methods of research have emerged or been closed off? We invite papers that build on established research agendas as well as work that inspires new questions, especially in areas which may be less recognized in political science today, including:

• Geopolitics and Regionalism

• Civil Society and Civic Engagement

• Political Economies at Multiple Scale

• Citizenship, Migration, and Refugees 

• Institutions and Participation

• Critical Security Studies

• Protest, Dissent, and Mobilization

• Reflecting on Research Methods, Field Work and Research Ethics

 

The conference is intended for PhD students and early-career faculty in political science, international relations, and other social science disciplines who are based at institutions in the Arab MENA region. Scholars based outside the Arab MENA region may also apply.  

 

Invited scholars will be expected to prepare an original, high-quality research manuscript which, during the conference, will be shared in small working groups for discussion and critical feedback. Journal editors and advanced scholars in thematic fields and will be invited as discussants and plenary speakers. A goal of the conference is for attendees to utilize feedback to revise their research for publication in journals, special issues, symposia, or other collaborative work.