Middle East Sociology Working Group

Outline of this page:
1. What Is Middle East Sociology?
2. Organizing Meetings of the Middle East Sociology Working Group.
3. Selected Upcoming Meetings Related to Middle East Sociology.
4. Syllabi Related to Middle East Sociology.
5. Selected Reflections on the State of Sociology of the Middle East.
6. Professional Associations Related to Middle East Sociology.
7. Participants.

1. What Is Middle East Sociology?

The concept of the "Middle East" was popularized in the early 20th century to denote the regions of Asia adjacent to the Far East. It came to have its present meanings several decades later (see works by Davison, Keddie, Koppes, Adelson, and Kurzman). "Sociology" was coined in the 1820s by Auguste Comte, who later also founded the "religion of humanity," and became a university discipline in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries. Rather than define either term, our working group is open to all who consider themselves sociologists and who consider their subject of study to involve the Middle East.

The working group grows out the recognition that -- using conventional definitions -- sociologists are underrepresented among Middle East specialists, and Middle East specialists are underrepresented among sociologists. The working group is intended to consolidate this field of study and to increase scholarly training and collaboration.

2. Organizing Meetings of the Middle East Sociology Working Group:

Convened at the American Sociological Association, Annual Meeting, New York, August 12, 2007. Minutes.
Informal meeting at the Middle East Studies Association, Annual Meeting, Montreal, November 18, 2007. Minutes.

3. Selected Upcoming Meetings Related to Middle East Sociology:

American Sociological Association:
August 1-4, 2008, Boston. Informal meeting of Mideast Sociology Working Group, Monday, August 4, 10:00 a.m., gathering at conference registration desk. Panels include:

"Muslim Societies," organized by Said Amir Arjomand, Friday, August 1, 2:30-4:10 p.m., Building: Hilton Boston Back Bay.
"Thematic Session: Worlds of Work in the Middle East," organized by Valentine M. Moghadam, Sunday, August 3, 2:30-4:10 p.m., Hilton Boston Back Bay.
"Teaching Sociology of the Middle East," organized by Akbar Mahdi, Monday, August 4, 12:30-2:10 p.m., Boston Marriott Copley Place.

August 8-11, 2009, San Francisco. Panel on Sociology of the Middle East and Muslim Societies has been approved. Papers are likely to be due in mid-January 2009.

International Institute of Sociology:
June 26-30, 2008, 38th IIS World Congress, Budapest. Panels include:

"Sociology of Islam: An Inventory," organized by Mohammed Bamyeh.

International Sociological Association:
September 5-8, 2008, First ISA Forum of Sociology, Barcelcona. Panels include:

Women in Society (RC32), Session 4: "Middle Eastern Women’s Movements and Activism in the Globalized World: Research and Action," organized by Suaad Zayed Al-Oraimi and Nazanin Shahrokni, September 6, 9:00-11:00 a.m.

July 11-17, 2010, World Congress of Sociology, Göteborg, Sweden.

Middle East Studies Association of North America:
November 22-25, 2008, Washington, D.C.

4. Syllabi Related to Middle East Sociology:

New School University: Uri Ram, Israeli Society and the Palestinians, 2006.
Syracuse University: Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Social Theory and the Middle East, 2006.
University of California, Berkeley: Cihan Tugal, Sociology of the Middle East, 2006.
University of Michigan: Fatma Müge Göçek, Introduction to Sociology Through American and Iraqi Societies, 2006.
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: Charles Kurzman, Sociology of Islam, 2006.
University of Pittsburgh: Mohammed Bamyeh, Sociology of Islam, 2007.
Virginia Tech: Tugrul Keskin, Sociology of Political Islam, 2007.

5. Selected Reflections on the State of Middle East Sociology

Nilgün Çelebi, "Sociology Associations in Turkey: Continuity Behind Discontinuity," International Sociology, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 253-267, June 2002. (SAGE Journals Online)

Saad Eddin Ibrahim, "Cross-Eyed Sociology in Egypt and the Arab World," Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 26, No. 5, September 1997, pp. 547-551. (JSTOR)

Devorah Kalekin-Fishman, "Making Sense of Constant Change: Israeli Sociology Between Apologetics and Radical Critique." Current Sociology, Vol. 54, No. 1, January 2006, pp. 63-76. (SAGE Journals Online)

Resat Kasaba, "The Middle East in Sociology, Sociology in the Middle East." Paper presented to the Middle East Studies Association, November 2006.

Aytül Kasapoglu, "The Study of Sociology in Turkish Higher Education." International Education Journal, Vol. 6, No. 4, September 2005, pp. 537-546. (Online)

Moshe Lissak, "'Critical' Sociology and 'Establishment' Sociology in the Israeli Academic Community," Israel Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 1996, pp. 247-294. (Project Muse)

Ali Akbar Mahdi and Abdolali Lahsaeizadeh, Sociology in Iran (Bethesda, Maryland: Jahan Book Co., 1992). (Worldcat OCLC: 27834248)

Middle East Review of International Affairs, "Current Contents of Periodicals on the Middle East," 1998-present. (Online)

George Sabagh and Iman Ghazalla, "Arab Sociology Today: A View from Within," Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 12, 1986, pp. 373-399. (JSTOR)

C. A. O. Van Nieuwenhuijze, Sociology of the Middle East: A Stocktaking and Interpretation (Leiden: Brill, 1971). (Worldcat OCLC: 288421)

Abdelkader Zghal, Ahmed Iadh Ouederni, María Luz Morán, editors, Questions from Arab Societies: Proceedings of the ISA Arab Regional Conference, Hammamet, Tunisia, 16-18 May 1997 (Montréal: Service de l'information et des relations publiques de l'UQAM, 1998). (Worldcat OCLC: 41069213)

6. Professional Associations Related to Middle East Sociology:

Sociology:
American Sociological Association.
Arab Sociological Association.
Egyptian Sociologists Association.
Lebanese Sociology Association.
International Sociological Association.
Iranian Sociology Association.
Israeli Sociological Society.
Moroccan Sociology Association.
Saudi Sociology Association.
Tunisian Sociology Association.
Turkish Sociology Association.

Middle East Studies:
British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES).
Dutch Association for the Study of the Middle East and Islam (MOI).
European Association for Middle Eastern Studies (EURAMES).
French Association for the Study of the Arab and Muslim World (AFEMAM).
German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation (DAVO).
Italian Society for the Study of the Middle East (SeSaMO).
Korean Association for Middle East Studies (KAMES).
Japan Association for Middle East Studies (JAMES).
Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA).
Midwest Association for Middle East and Islamic Studies (MAMEIS).
Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies.
Southeast Regional Middle East and Islamic Studies Seminar (SERMEISS).
Swiss Society for the Middle East and Islamic Cultures (SGMOIK/SSMOCI).
World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES).

Specialized Societies:
Aram Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies.
Association for Israel Studies.
Association for Middle East Women's Studies.
Association for the Study of Persianate Societies.
Assyrian Academic Society.
International Qajar Studies Association.
International Society for Iranian Studies.
Kurdish Studies Association.
Lebanese Studies Association.
Middle East Medievalists.
Societas Iranologica Europaea.
Society for Arabian Studies.
Society for Armenian Studies.
Society for Libyan Studies.
Sudan Studies Association.
Syrian Studies Association.
Turkish Studies Association.

7. Participants:

Doctoral students working on Middle East sociology.
To contribute information for this website, please contact Charles Kurzman <kurzman@unc.edu>.
To be added to a mailing list to be notified of news and events related to sociology of the Middle East, please contact Tugrul Keskin <tugrulk@vt.edu>.

This page's address is http://www.unc.edu/~kurzman/MideastSociology. This page was last updated on July 11, 2008.