[Bilimsel Haber] CFP: "Minorities of the Modern Middle East, " April 26-27, 2013, Portland State U

[Gonul Pultar]

Call for Proposals:

Minorities of the Modern Middle East
Portland State University (April 26-27, 2013)


The Middle East Studies Center (MESC) at Portland State University 
announces an intensive interdisciplinary two-day workshop on "Minorities 
of the Modern Middle East," to be held April 26-27, 2013, at Portland 
State University in Portland, Oregon.

Political, ethnic, and religious divides intersect in the modern Middle 
East in ways that give form to various articulations of the term 
"minority." While some of these minority groups are indigenous to the 
region with a collective presence that predates the creation of the 
modern nation-states, others are only now beginning to articulate their 
minority identities in response to shifting political and social 
contexts. Since 9/11, and now more intensively amidst the upheavals of 
the "Arab Spring," the simplistic political and media discourse that had 
previously portrayed the Middle East as a homogenous region has given 
way to an equally problematic discourse that casts the region and its 
societies as deeply and essentially divided along ethnic, linguistic, 
and religious lines. Meanwhile, new articulations
of minority and minoritized identities are forming within different 
Middle Eastern states, extending and contesting the conceptual 
boundaries of minority politics.

We encourage submissions that address one or more of the following
questions:

Conceptual: How are minorities in the Middle East defined by themselves 
and others? How are they perceived vis-a-vis majorities? What tropes, 
social/political projects, and narratives are working to promote and 
channel minority identities and interests in the Middle East?

Historical: What political, colonial, social, economic, or demographic 
factors have given rise to various ³minorities²? How did the minority 
status of these groups transform over the years? How were minorities 
defined politically and legally in different parts of the Middle East 
over the course of the twentieth century?

Political: How and for what purposes do religious, ethnic, or linguistic 
minorities become politicized? How do they participate in the 
political/demographic processes in their countries of citizenship? How 
are they being affected by the rapid political transformations brought 
about by the recent uprisings across the Arab world?

Transnational: In what ways does the "endangered minority" status 
privilege certain ethno-religious groups legally? What are the patterns 
that characterize the relationship between minority status and the 
attainment of refugee/asylum status in western countries? What patterns 
can we discern in the movements of minority populations within the 
Middle East? To what extent does active networking of Middle Eastern 
minorities in the diaspora influence human rights definitions and 
migration policies in the host countries? How do minority transnational 
political projects emerge (mostly) locally in diaspora? Can we examine 
the traditional diasporic sites of the family, ethnic business, 
transnational marriage, church, etc. in their capacity as transnational 
(conceptual) social fields where minority identities are formed and 
maintained through the movement back and forth between home and
host countries? Can we explore minority privileges in light of dual
citizenship policies?

Current: What are the conditions under which today's ethnic, religious, 
and linguistic minorities live in the Middle East? How do they navigate 
the social and cultural structures of their countries and regions? How 
are they affected by the post-colonial legacy in some of these countries?

We plan to publish selected essays arising out of the workshop as an 
edited volume or special journal issue. Funds for travel and 
accommodation may be available to participants.

Please send 250-word abstracts to

Laura Robson <lrobson at pdx.edu>, and
Yasmeen Hanoosh <yhanoosh at pdx.edu>

by September 15, 2012.



Laura Robson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Portland State University
PO Box 751
Portland, OR 97207-0751
USA

(503) 725-3941
lrobson at pdx.edu
https://sites.google.com/site/lauracrobson/home