Event: Seminar: New Authoritarian Practices in the Middle East and North Africa
Date: 4 October 2022
Time: 18:30
Venue: The Mediterranean Instituteās Ħursun Farmhouse
Following the enthusiastic response to the Mediterranean Institute Seminar series over the past academic year, the Institute is happy to announce its first Seminar session for 2022/23. Setting in motion the excellent line-up of seminars by international and local speakers we have planned for the coming year, the first session will be delivered by Professor ĆzgĆ¼n E. Topak from the Department of Social Science at York University, Canada. Professor Topak will be discussing āNew Authoritarian Practices in the Middle East and North Africaā, in light of a forthcoming book by the same title that will appear from Edinburgh University Press later this year.
Following the enthusiastic response to the Mediterranean Institute Seminar series over the past academic year, the Institute is happy to announce its first Seminar session for 2022/23. Setting in motion the excellent line-up of seminars by international and local speakers we have planned for the coming year, the first session will be delivered by Professor ĆzgĆ¼n E. Topak from the Department of Social Science at York University, Canada. Professor Topak will be discussing āNew Authoritarian Practices in the Middle East and North Africaā, in light of a forthcoming book by the same title that will appear from Edinburgh University Press later this year.
The Seminar will take place on Tuesday 4 October 2022 at 18:30 at the Mediterranean Instituteās Ħursun Farmhouse, and will be followed by a 20-minute Q&A session.
In response to the recent local and regional uprisings ā such as the 2009 Green Movement in Iran, the Arab uprisings of 2011, and the 2013 Gezi Protests in Turkey ā Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries have refashioned āestablishedā authoritarian practices (such as repressive laws, imprisonment of dissidents and extra-judicial killings) and added new authoritarian practices (such as internet and spyware surveillance) to stifle dissent, neutralise opponents and prevent social mobilisation. The presentation will show that MENA regimes are using a mix of historically-established practices and new authoritarian practices in conjunction with one another to form what Topak (2019; 2022) calls an āauthoritarian assemblageā. A case in point is the brutal murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi where Pegasus spyware surveillance is combined with extra-judicial killing. This presentation will draw on this and other cases from the authorās new book New Authoritarian Practices in the Middle East and North Africa (Edinburgh University Press, 2022), which involves analysis of sixteen MENA countries. Sub-headings of the presentation will include: established/historical authoritarian practices, authoritarian practices in protest/policing, civil society and media, and digital/internet realms, legalizing authoritarian practices, authoritarian learning and alliances, gender and the double-authoritarian burden, and resistance to authoritarian practices.
ĆzgĆ¼n E. Topak is Associate Professor within the Department of Social Science at York University, Canada, where he is primarily affiliated with the Criminology undergraduate program and the Socio-legal Studies graduate program. His degrees are from Istanbul University (BA), the Middle East Technical University of Turkey (MA) and Queenās University of Canada (Ph.D.). Dr. Topak, who is being hosted by the Platform for Migration at the University of Malta, is an interdisciplinary social scientist interested in topics of surveillance, authoritarianism, migration and human rights. His recent research examines authoritarian practices in the Middle East and North Africa, and migration and border controls in Mediterranean borderlands. He was awarded the 2019 Surveillance Studies Network Early Career Researcher Prize, and is currently an Associate Editor of Surveillance & Society.
The Mediterranean Institute Seminar is free and open to the general public. Students are particularly encouraged to attend. A drinks reception will follow on from the event. For further information and to reserve a place, kindly contact the Mediterranean Institute by sending an email to either the Director and Seminar Convenor, Professor Norbert Bugeja or an email to Ms Isabelle Abela.
ĆzgĆ¼n E. Topak is Associate Professor within the Department of Social Science at York University, Canada, where he is primarily affiliated with the Criminology undergraduate program and the Socio-legal Studies graduate program. His degrees are from Istanbul University (BA), the Middle East Technical University of Turkey (MA) and Queenās University of Canada (Ph.D.). Dr. Topak, who is being hosted by the Platform for Migration at the University of Malta, is an interdisciplinary social scientist interested in topics of surveillance, authoritarianism, migration and human rights. His recent research examines authoritarian practices in the Middle East and North Africa, and migration and border controls in Mediterranean borderlands. He was awarded the 2019 Surveillance Studies Network Early Career Researcher Prize, and is currently an Associate Editor of Surveillance & Society.
The Mediterranean Institute Seminar is free and open to the general public. Students are particularly encouraged to attend. A drinks reception will follow on from the event. For further information and to reserve a place, kindly contact the Mediterranean Institute by sending an email to either the Director and Seminar Convenor, Professor Norbert Bugeja or an email to Ms Isabelle Abela.
