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

Study Abroad in Istanbul: Politics, Religion and Globalization in Modern Turkish Society - July 4-29 Portland State University

CALL FOR PAPERS Panel – Middle East Studies in the Post September 11 Era

CALL FOR PAPERS

Panel – Middle East Studies in the Post September 11 Era

45th Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association Conference
MESA 2011

December 1-4, 2011 Washington DC
http://www.mesa.arizona.edu/

Dear all,

We are in the process of organizing a panel entitled: Middle East Studies in
the Post September 11 Era. The panel is intended as a contemporary
exploration of Edward Said’s thesis, first laid out in Orientalism, that
Middle Eastern Studies produces not value-free knowledge but policy-oriented
knowledge and, moreover, is tied to the culture of colonialism. In the post
September 11 era, we have witnessed an increasing tendency to build closer,
more explicit and more multifaceted relationship between universities and
the state, which in the case of Middle East Studies may be approached as
“Neo-Orientalism.” Several examples may be identified within US academic
study of the Middle East and Islam, especially where the field is most
connected to the work of think-tanks, governmental and non-governmental
organizations.

We are seeking submissions related to Neo-Orientalism and Middle East
Studies in the Post-September 11 Era. Possible areas of research and study
include but are not limited to:

Orientalism, Neo-Orientalism and Middle East Studies
Middle East Studies, Think-Tanks and NGOs
"Moderate" Islam and Neo-Orientalism
Orientalism, Neo-Orientalism, and C. Wright Mills’ conception of the
sociological imagination
The Role of Semi-governmental organizations such as NED, NDI, the Woodrow
Wilson Center and others in financing Middle East and Islamic Studies
Comparisons of Orientalism and Neo-Orientalism across US and European
Academic cultures, or elsewhere
The Role of the State in Middle East Studies in the Post-September 11 era,

Deadline: January 30, 2011

Please send abstract to: tugrulkeskin@pdx.edu and mab205@pitt.edu

Organizers:
Mohammed Bamyeh, University of Pittsburg
Tugrul Keskin, Portland State University

Samih Farsoun (1937-2005) A Palestinian Sociologist

Islamophobia: A different face of racism

An Islamic woman goes to the Al-Farooq Islamic Center on Fourth Avenue South to pray. Vandals had inscribed “Muslims Go Home” on the wall near the entrance.
JOHN PARTIPILO / FILE / THE TENNESSEAN

Call for papers: Social Transformations in South/Southeast Asia: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh

Mirza Sultan-Galiev: One of the first representative of the Socialism in the Global South

Happy Workers Day!

Sponsor of the World Islamic Economic Forum: Islamic Way of Capitalism

6th World Islamic Economic Forum

The 6th World Islamic Economic Forum is back in Kuala Lumpur and is scheduled to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on 18-20 May 2010. Purportedly one of the most important business forums scheduled for the year 2010, at least one that focuses on a niche market of the emerging economies of the Muslim world, the 6th WIEF is expected to attract an estimated 2000 participants based on the past record of 1728 participants at the 5th WIEF in Jakarta in March 2009. The Forum, a platform where world leaders in government and business converge to discuss trade and economic issues affecting the globe, is poised to be the ultimate meeting place for investors, fund managers, entrepreneurs, bankers, and other stakeholders of the business community.

Market (Pazaryeri) in Istanbul

Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies at Portland State University

Dear all,

We have created the Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies homepage at Portland State University and this has been transferred from Virginia Tech. You will find detailed information at the following web address: http://www.pdx.edu/sociologyofislam/

We have also updated our academic advisory and editorial board.

Academic Advisory Board:
http://www.pdx.edu/sociologyofislam/advisory-board

Editorial Board:
http://www.pdx.edu/sociologyofislam/editorial-board

We would like to post your Islam and Muslim Societies related syllabi on our website, if you would like to send them to us as a word document. You will see other syllabi in the syllabus section of the homepage. This homepage will also help our students to select Islam and Muslim Societies related courses.

Please also visit the new Religious Studies website at Portland State University:
http://www.pdx.edu/religiousstudies/

Dr. Jennifer Schubert from the Religious Studies program is presenting the Religious Studies Program's first public event. You will find this lecture information on our website: http://www.pdx.edu/sociologyofislam/lectures

Peace and salaam to all,

--
Tugrul Keskin

Assistant Professor of International and Middle Eastern Studies
And Center for Turkish Studies
Portland State University
International Studies-INTL
East Hall 309
632 SW Hall Street
Portland, OR 97201 - USA
Office: 503-725-3495

Editor of Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies
Book Editor of Societies Without Borders

Civilized us, uncivilized them: The Dichotomoy of Imperialism

Turkish Immigrant Cruelly Beaten by the Norway Police As His Mother was Left to Die by the Norway Doctors.

Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies: SUMMER 2009

Classical Social Theory: 9th European Sociological Association Conference

9th European Sociological Association Conference
European Society or European Societies?
September 2 - 5, 2009
Lisbon, Portugal

Friday, September 4, 2009

5A Classical Social Theory: The Classical Canon, Mannheim and Troeltsch

Chair: Henning Bech

Robert Fine: Marx and the Radical Critique of Antisemitism
WARWICK UNIVERSITY

Tugrul Keskin: Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies in Neoliberal Globalization
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

Isabelle Darmon: The notions of 'type of man' and 'personality' in early German
social and cultural sciences: lessons from a selective comparison between Ernst
Troeltsch and Max Weber
THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

Richard Simon: Scientific Specialization as Utopian Practice

The Lion of the Desert: Omar Muhtar

The Lion of the desert: Omar Muhtar

The Most Strange of Creatures by Nazim Hikmet

The Most Strange of Creatures

Like the scorpion, my brother,
You are like the scorpion
In a terror-stricken night,
Like the sparrow, my brother,
You are like the sparrow
In inconsiderable restlessness.
Like the mussel, my brother,
You are like the mussel
Closed tight and tranquil.
You are terrible, my brother,
Like the mouth of an extinguished volcano.
And you are not one, alas,
you are not five
you are some millions.
You are like the sheep, my brother,
When the butcher dressed in your wool
when the butcher lifts his Staff
you hurry yourself to get back in the flock
and you go to the slaughterhouse running, almost proud.
You are the most strange of creatures, in short,
More strange than the fish
who lives in the sea without knowing the sea,
And if there is so much misery on the earth
it is thanks to you, my brother,
If we are starved, worn out,
If we are flayed till the blood flows,
Pressed like a bunch of grapes to yield our wine,
Will I go so far as to say that it is your fault, no,
But for many it is so, my brother.

Nazim Hikmet Ran
1901 Selanik -1963 Moscow

The United States of Corporation

Madrassas in India

If you are interested in Madrassas in India and Pakistan, please visit the following website that is updated by a colleague of mine, Yogi Skand:

http://www.madrasareforms.blogspot.com/

or Islam in India

http://www.islampeaceandjustice.blogspot.com/

Australian Aboriginal Genocide

Forgotten People of our planet: Australian Aboriginal Genocide

Australian Aboriginal Genocide

Public Lecture on the US Foreign Policy and Afghanistan at Virginia Tech

Movie Marathon: Imperialism, Oil, and Religion: American Foreign Policy and Islam, Virginia Tech