SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES

This course aims at highlighting socio-economic developments in the southern sphere of the Mediterranean, with a focus on the Arab world. It looks at the process of “development” primarily from socio-economic thinking of the region and its connection with the greater Mediterranean, and the global debates on society and economics. To realize this aim, the course is divided into three major parts, besides an introduction on the meaning of the Mediterranean and current intellectual transformations in its southern part. Part One introduces economic thought in the Arab Mediterranean world, with major focus on Islamic economics and its connection to society. Part Two moves to contemporary socio-economic issues, with main reference to the role women play in their transformations. Part Three gives space to the youth and their socio-economic participation and engagements. Debating the nature of “development” in the Mediterranean, whether nature-friendly or not, is also examined by the end of the course.

Not Applicable

Main objectives of the course: Situating the socio-economic development of the Arab countries of the Mediterranean in Mediterranean Studies Recognizing the deep historical ties that link the north and south of the Mediterranean peoples and cultures through their socio-economic perspectives and aspirations. Understanding some of the major factors that govern socio-economic development of societies of the Arab Mediterranean world. Comprehending the interplay between local, regional and global development issues. Grasping the international dimensions of Mediterranean socio-economic developments. Underlying the place of nature and the environment in the ongoing socio-economic development programmes around the Mediterranean.

Content’s scope: Economic thought and practice in the Arab Mediterranean world; Social transformations and development in the Arab Mediterranean world; Nature-friendly model of development in the Mediterranean world.

Obligatory sources: Selected chapters from the following works (in chronological order): Mohammed Hashas, “Arab Mediterranean Islam: Intellectual and Political Trends,” in States, Actors and Geopolitical Drivers in the Mediterranean: Perspectives on the New Centrality in a Changing Region, eds. Francesca Corrao and Riccardo Redaelli (Cham: Palgrave, 2021), pp. 129-155. Toseef Azid and Lutfi Sunar, eds, Social Justice and Islamic Economics: Theory, Issues and Practice (London and New York: Routledge, 2019). Nasser Yassin, Robert Hoppe,eds, Women, Civil Society and Policy Change in the Arab World (Cham-Switzerland: Palgrave, 2019). Elena Sánchez-Montijano and José Sánchez García, eds, Youth at the Margins: Perspectives on Arab Mediterranean Youth (London and New York: Routledge, 2019). Hossein Askari, Zamir Iqbal, and Abbas Mirakhor, Introduction to Islamic Economics: Theory and Application (Singapore and Chichester UK: Wiley, 2015). Rym Ayadi, Marek Dabrowski, Luc De Wulf Editors, eds., Economic and Social Development of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries (Cham, London: Springer, 2015). Jonathan Langton, Cristina Trullols, and Abdullah Q. Turkistani, eds, Islamic Economics and Finance: A European Perspective (New York: Palgrave, 2011). Ahmed El-Ashker and Rodney Wilson, Islamic Economics: A Short History (Leiden: Brill, 2006). William V. Harris, Rethinking the Mediterranean (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005). Optional sources: Dimitris Bouris, Daniela Huber, Michelle Pace, eds., Routledge Handbook of EU–Middle East Relations (London and New York: Routledge, 2022). Francesca Corrao and Riccardo Redaelli States, eds, Actors and Geopolitical Drivers in the Mediterranean: Perspectives on the New Centrality in a Changing Region, eds (Cham: Palgrave, 2021). Carlo Capello Panas Karampampas Jutta Lauth Bacas, “The Future(s) of the Mediterraneans - Between Uncertainty and Resilience,” EtnoAntropologia, 9 (1) 2021. Pp. 7-20. UNDP Human Development Report 2020: Human Development and the Anthropocene (New York: UNDP, 2020). Medardus Brehl, Andreas Eckl, Kristin Platt, eds, The Mediterranean Other - The other Mediterranean (Leiden: Brill, 2019). David Abulafia, The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2011). Dialogue Between Peoples and Cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean Area, Report of the High-Level Advisory Group of the European Commission (Brussels: European Commission, 2003). Pp. 1-44. Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, Vol. 2/3, trans. Sian Reynolds (California: California UP, 1996).

The course stimulates students’ active participation to enhance their critical skills and learning methodologies through the following: class participation, individual and team work (class presentations, writing papers), role-playing, and study of short film documentaries.

*For attending students: Class participation: 15% Class presentation: 15% Quizzes: 15% Midterm essay: written paper of no more than three thousand words: 15 %. Final oral exam on the whole class programme: 40%. *For officially permitted non-attending students: -Writing Weekly Reading Forms (i.e. summaries in no more than 1000 words) of the weekly material of the syllabus; these Reading Forms have to be sent to the Professor and the Teaching Assistant at the end of each week; the student has to have 12 Reading Forms submitted by the end of the course: 20 %. -Midterm assignment = Written paper of no more than three thousand words: 20 %. - Thorough final oral exam on the whole programme: 60%.

Three major criteria are required: Assiduous class participation Analytical skills A final course accumulate grade no less than 28/30.