Sociology of the Middle East - Fall 2011 Portland State University

Sociology of the Middle East

FALL 2011
INTL/SOC 483U
CRN: 13440

INSTRUCTOR: TUGRUL KESKIN

Monday, Wednesday - 2:00 - 3:50 PM – CH 221

Sociology of the Middle East seeks to understand the transformation of society, politics and the economy in the modern Middle East. It is divided into three sections; the goal of the first section is to critically analyze Middle Eastern societies and cultures in the context of nationalism, and the concepts of tradition/modernity, ethnicity, religion and gender/sexuality. Section two covers the State and politics, and examines the formation and structure of the nation-state, the military, political parties and religious groups, bureaucracy, and the consequences of colonialism and imperialism. The last section looks at economic development – or under-development across the region, as the source of major current social and political changes. In this course, we examine these changes based upon sociological observation in the context of four societies; Turkish, Iranian, Arab, and Israeli.

Required Readings:

1.Ali Gheissari, Contemporary Iran: Economy, Society, Politics. Oxford University Press, 2009.
2.Ersin Kalaycioglu, Turkish Dynamics: Bridge Across Troubled Lands. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
3.Colin Shindler, A History of Modern Israel. Cambridge University Press, 2008.
4.Ibrahim Albadawi and Samir Makdisi (Eds.), Democracy in the Arab World. Routledge, 2011.
5.Tugrul Keskin, The Sociology of Islam: Secularism, Economy and Politics. Ithaca Press, 2011.

For more information: tugrulkeskin@pdx.edu
or The Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies