POLI 309 DEMOCRACY AND DISOBEDIENCE: CIVIL RESISTANCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST COURSE OVERVIEW

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1 CRN POLITICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA SUMMER 2017 POLI 309 DEMOCRACY AND DISOBEDIENCE: CIVIL RESISTANCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST July 5 - August 21 9:30-12:00 AM Mondays, Wednesdays, Cornett Building, Room B135 Instructor: Michael J. Carpenter, PhD Office: DTB A354, hours: 1 pm Mondays, or by appointment mjcarpenter78@gmail.com COURSE OVERVIEW The purpose of this course is to examine the role of civil resistance as a force for change in the Middle East. Readings and lectures cover several case studies, including the Iranian Revolution of , the first Palestinian Intifada of , the Arab Uprisings of , among others. Readings and lectures also provide a) a basic background into the political and historical context of the Middle East, and b) an overview of the theory of civil resistance. The course is structured around the following primary questions: What are the basic claims of civil-resistance theory? How has civil resistance contributed to the transformation of political conditions in each of the cases studied? Secondary questions include: What is the relationship between civil resistance and violence (violent resistance and violent repression)? What is the relationship between Islamism and violence/nonviolence? What are the limits or conditions under which civil resistance can function effectively? What do the case studies suggest about the nature of political power (in the Middle East and more broadly)? By the end of the course, students are expected to demonstrate a clear understanding of the connections between civil-resistance theory and the case studies, a familiarity with the readings, and a basic grasp of the contemporary Middle East. REQUIRED TEXTS (purchase hardcopy at UVic Bookstore, or download e-book from Library) Maria J. Stephan (ed), Civilian Jihad: Nonviolent Struggle, Democratization, and Governance in the Middle East (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) Adam Roberts, Michael Willis, Rory McCarthy, & Timothy Garton Ash (eds), Civil Resistance in the Arab Spring: Triumphs and Disasters (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016) Additional required texts will be provided electronically (see Schedule below and CourseSpaces online) POLI 309 Civil Resistance in the Middle East, p. 1.

2 EVALUATION Requirements (each required to pass): Attendance / Engagement 15% Midterm Exam 15% Research Paper 40% Final Exam 30% Attendance / Engagement (15%): Regular attendance and engagement is expected. Absences will adversely impact this grade directly and also other grade components indirectly. Engagement can mean contributions to class discussions, sharing thoughts and questions during office hours, and remaining present, alert, and attentive to lectures and discussions. Midterm Exam (15%): The in-class midterm exam, Wednesday, July 26, consists of three short-answer questions, worth 5 points each (there will be an element of choice), drawing on material from the lectures and the readings, focusing primarily on the cases studied but also on the theory and political context. Term Paper (40%): This assignment requires you to develop an original thesis concerning civil resistance in the Middle East. Suggested research topics, along with detailed expectations, will be provided early in the term. The topics will be broad, requiring you to refine, and you are encouraged to develop your own research topic, subject to instructor approval. The paper must include a title page and be double spaced, approximately 3000 words in total, adhering to Chicago Manual of Style, with either in-text references or footnotes. The paper must cite at least seven scholarly sources (required readings count as scholarly sources, but at least four of your scholarly sources must come from beyond the required readings). The paper is due by electronic submission before 11:55 pm on Tuesday, August 15. Late papers will be penalized 3% per day. Final Exam (30%): The final exam consists of two parts, worth 15 points each. The first part contains three shortanswer questions, worth 5 points each (same format as the midterm exam). The second part is one essay-answer question, requiring a thesis and structure, worth 15 points. Both parts will offer an element of choice. You are expected to demonstrate familiarity with the cases, the readings, and some of the major regional issues discussed in class, while using the conceptual vocabulary and terminology of civil resistance theory. POLI 309 Civil Resistance in the Middle East, p. 2.

3 IMPORTANT DATES First class Wednesday, July 5 Midterm Exam Wednesday, July 26 No class (holiday) Monday, August 7 Paper due Tuesday, August 15 Last regular class (including review) Wednesday, August 16 Final exam Monday, August 21 SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS (subject to change) First class: introduction, review syllabus (Wednesday, July 5) No readings Topic 1 Middle East background (Monday, July 10) Stephen Zunes, Unarmed Resistance in the Middle East and North Africa in Nonviolent Social Movements: A Geographical Perspective, edited by Stephen Zunes, Lester Kurtz, Sara Beth Asher (Malden: Blackwell, 1999) Maria Stephan, Introduction in Civilian Jihad: Nonviolent Struggle, Democratization, and Governance in the Middle East, edited by Maria Stephan (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) Rami Khouri, Allahu Akbar, We Are Free at Last! Parallels between Modern Arab and Islamic Activism and the US Civil Rights Movement Civilian Jihad (2009) Chibli Mallat and Edward Mortimer The Background to Civil Resistance in the Middle East Civil Resistance in the Arab Spring: Triumphs and Disasters (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016) --- Edward Said, The Myth of the Clash of Civilizations Media Education Foundation, 1998 (transcript or video) --- Stephen Zunes and Saad Eddin Ibrahim, External Actors and Nonviolent Struggles in the Middle East Civilian Jihad (2009) Topic 2 Civil resistance theory (Wednesday, July 12) Hardy Merriman, Theory and Dynamics of Nonviolent Action Civilian Jihad (2009) Ralph Crow & Philip Grant, Questions and Controversies about Nonviolent Political Struggle in the Middle East Civilian Jihad (2009) Gene Sharp, From Dictatorship to Democracy (Boston: Albert Einstein Institution, 2010), chs. 1-5, Appendix 1 Further topic reading (optional) --- Gene Sharp, From Dictatorship to Democracy (Albert Einstein Institution, 2010), chs. 5-10, Appendix Maria Stephan & Erica Chenoweth, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict International Security 33:1 (2008) --- Gene Sharp, How Nonviolent Struggle Works (Boston: Albert Einstein Institution, 2013) --- Kurt Schock, The Practice and Study of Civil Resistance Journal of Peace Research 50:3 (May 2013) POLI 309 Civil Resistance in the Middle East, p. 3.

4 Topic 3 Iranian Revolution and Green Movement (Monday, July 17) M. Sazegara & M. Stephan, Iran s Islamic Revolution and Non-violent Struggle Civilian Jihad (2009) Fariba Davoudi Mohajer, Roya Tolouni, & Shaazka Beyerle, The Iranian Women s Movement: Repression versus Nonviolent Resolve Civilian Jihad (2009) Topic 4 Islamism: Violence and nonviolence in political Islam (Wednesday, July 19) Asef Bayat, No Silence, No Violence: A Post-Islamist Trajectory, Civilian Jihad (2009) Shadi Hamid, Islamists and Nonviolent Action, Civilian Jihad (2009) Topic 5 Diverse cases: Pushtuns; Golani Druze; Kuwait; Lebanon; Turkey (Monday, July 24) R. Scott Kennedy, Noncooperation in the Golan Heights: A Case of Nonviolent Resistance Civilian Jihad (2009) Rudy Jaafar & Maria Stephan, Lebanon s Independence Intifada: How an Unarmed Insurrection Expelled Syrian Forces Civilian Jihad (2009) Robin Celikates, Learning from the Streets: Civil Disobedience in Theory and Practice in Global Activism Art and Conflict in the 21st Century, edited by Peter Weibel (MIT Press, 2015) --- Mohammad Raqib, The Muslim Pashtun Movement of the North-West Frontier of India, Civilian Jihad (2009) --- Hamad Albloshi & Faisal Alfahad, The Orange Movement of Kuwait: Civic Pressure Transforms a Political System Civilian Jihad (2009) --- Stephen Zunes, The Good News and the Bad News About Turkey s Attempted Coup The Progressive (July 19, 2016) *** Midterm Exam plus intro lecture to Topic 6 (Wednesday, July 26) No readings Topic 6 Palestine and the First Intifada (Monday, July 31) Joel Beinin & Lisa Hajjar, Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, A Primer Middle East Research and Information Project Mubarak Awad Non-Violent Resistance: A Strategy for the Occupied Territories Journal of Palestine Studies 13:4 (1984) Peter Ackerman & Jack DuVall The Intifada: Campaign for a Homeland A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000) --- Mary E. King, Palestinian Civil Resistance against Israeli Military Occupation Civilian Jihad (2009) --- Souad Dajani, Nonviolent Resistance in the Occupied Territories: A Critical reevaluation Nonviolent Social Movements (1999) POLI 309 Civil Resistance in the Middle East, p. 4.

5 Topic 7 Arab Uprisings 1: Tunisia and Egypt (Wednesday, August 2) Sherif Mansour, Enough Is Not Enough: Achievements and Shortcomings of Kefaya, the Egyptian Movement for Change Civilian Jihad (2009) James Gelvin, A Revolutionary Wave Ch. 1 of The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know, 2 nd edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015) Michael Willis, Revolt for Dignity: Tunisia s Revolution and Civil Resistance, Triumphs and Disasters (2016) M. Cherif Bassiouni, Egypt s Unfinished Revolution, Triumphs and Disasters (2016) --- Rashid Khalidi, Preliminary Historical Observations on the Arab Revolutions in Bassam Haddad et al (eds) The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old Order? (London: Pluto Press, 2012) --- William Cleveland & Martin Bunton, The 2011 Arab Uprisings and their Aftermath A History of the Modern Middle East --- James Gelvin, The beginning: Tunisia and Egypt Ch. 2 of Arab Uprisings (2015) Holiday - catch up on required readings and essay research (Monday, August 7) Topic 8 Arab Uprisings 2: Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria (Wednesday, August 9) Elham Fakhro, Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Bahrain Triumphs and Disasters (2016) Helen Lackner, The Change Squares of Yemen Triumphs and Disasters (2016) Raymond Hinnebusch, Omar Imady, & Tina Zintl Civil Resistance in the Syrian Uprising: From Peaceful Protest to Sectarian Civil War Civil Resistance in the Arab Spring (2016) --- M. Bartkowski & M. Kahf, The Syrian Resistance: A Tale of Two Struggles, Part 1 OpenDemocracy (Sept. 23, 2013) --- M. Bartkowski & M. Kahf, The Syrian Resistance: A Tale of Two Struggles, Part 2 OpenDemocracy (Sept. 24, 2013) Topic 9 Popular Struggle in the West Bank (Monday, August 14) Readings Julie Norman, Civil Resistance in the Second Intifada: Direct Actions The Second Palestinian Intifada: Civil Resistance (New York: Routledge, 2010) Maia Carter Hallward, Creative Responses to Separation: Israeli and Palestinian Joint Activism in Bil in Journal of Peace Research 46:4 (2009) Wendy Pearlman, Palestine and the Arab Uprisings Triumphs and Disasters (2016) --- Iyad Burnat, Bil in and the Nonviolent Resistance (2015) (available for purchase from instructor and on reserve at the library) --- Marwan Darweish & Andrew Rigby, Popular Protest in Palestine: The Uncertain Future of Unarmed Resistance (London: Pluto, 2015) (on reserve at the library) *** Paper Due (Tuesday, August 15) POLI 309 Civil Resistance in the Middle East, p. 5.

6 Topic 10 Civil resistance against ISIS? (and course review) (Wednesday, August 16) Maria Stephan, Civil Resistance vs. ISIS, Journal of Resistance Studies 1:2 (2015) --- Graeme Wood, What ISIS Really Wants The Atlantic (March 2015) --- Julia Taleb, Syrians Roll Back Extremism in Idlib Without Military Intervention Waging Nonviolence (May 23, 2017) Further review reading (optional): --- Maria Stephan, Conclusion Civilian Jihad (2009) --- Adam Roberts, Civil Resistance and the Fate of the Arab Spring, Triumphs and Disasters (2016) COURSE FORMAT Classes are structured around a lecture/discussion of the day s topic incorporating a review/discussion of the corresponding reading. Lectures make use of PowerPoint presentations and other media, which will subsequently be made available through CourseSpaces. The content of lectures often diverges from the content of the readings, so regular attendance is required. Students should complete each day s required readings before class, in order to increase comprehension and facilitate engagement, discussion, and analysis. PLAGIARISM AND ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Academic integrity is intellectual honesty and responsibility for academic work that you submit individually or as a member of a group. It involves commitment to the values of honesty, trust and responsibility. It is expected that students will respect these ethical values in all activities related to learning, teaching, research and service. Therefore, plagiarism and other acts against academic integrity are serious academic offences. The responsibility of the institution - Instructors and academic units have the responsibility to ensure that standards of academic honesty are met. By doing so, the institution recognizes students for their hard work and assures them that other students do not have an unfair advantage through cheating on essays, exams, and projects. The responsibility of the student - Plagiarism sometimes occurs due to a misunderstanding regarding the rules of academic integrity, but it is the responsibility of the student to know them. If you are unsure about the standards for citations or for referencing your sources, ask your instructor. Depending on the severity of the case, penalties include a warning, a failing grade, a record on the student s transcript, or a suspension. It is your responsibility to understand the University s policy on academic integrity, which can be found on pages of the undergraduate calendar. For a complete explanation of plagiarism and its consequences, see Policy on Academic Integrity from the UVic Calendar: POLI 309 Civil Resistance in the Middle East, p. 6.

7 SPECIAL NEEDS The University of Victoria offers programs and support for students challenged by learning disabilities. If you require special accommodations, please contact the professor at the beginning of the course, if you have not already, or the Resource Centre for Students with a Disability: COURSE EXPERIENCE SURVEY (CES): I value your feedback on this course. Towards the end of term, as in all other courses at UVic, you will have the opportunity to complete an anonymous survey regarding your learning experience (CES). The survey is vital to providing feedback to me regarding the course and my teaching, as well as to help the department improve the overall program for students in the future. The survey is accessed via MyPage and can be done on your laptop, tablet, or mobile device. I will remind you and provide you with more detailed information nearer the time but please be thinking about this important activity during the course. UVic PERCENTAGE GRADING SCALE Passing Grades Grade Point Value Percentage Description A+ A A Exceptional, outstanding and excellent performance. Normally achieved by a minority of students. These grades indicate a student who is self-initiating, exceeds expectation and has an insightful grasp of the subject matter. B+ B B Very good, good and solid performance. Normally achieved by the largest number of students. These grades indicate a good grasp of the subject matter or excellent grasp in one area balanced with satisfactory grasp in the other area. C+ C Satisfactory, or minimally satisfactory. These grades indicate a satisfactory performance and knowledge of the subject matter. D Marginal Performance. A student receiving this grade demonstrated a superficial grasp of the subject matter. Failing Grades Grade Point Value Percentage Description F Unsatisfactory performance. Wrote final examination and completed course requirements; no supplemental. N Did not write examination or complete course requirements by the end of term or session; no supplemental. A percentage grade for an N grade should be assigned in the following manner: N grade percentage range 0-49: In cases where a student who has not completed the exam or has not completed the course requirements but has submitted course requirements that total more than 49% of the total grade for a course, an instructor will assign a percentage grade of 49%. POLI 309 Civil Resistance in the Middle East, p. 7.

8 Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) source: Mark L. Haas & David W. Lesch (eds.) The Arab Spring: Change and Resistance in the Middle East (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2013), p. ix. POLI 309 Civil Resistance in the Middle East, p. 8.