Development and the Uprisings

24-25 April 2015
​Fairfax, VA
The founding workshop of the Political Economy Project (PEP) took place on April 24-25 at the Arab Studies Institute in Virginia (George Mason University). The workshop was attended by over 30 prominent academics from the US, Europe and the Middle East working on political economy issues. Its basic guiding principles were (1) A commitment to developing critical, non-mainstream approaches to political economy (which requires further definition and elaboration in due time);(2) a notion of the project as both intellectual and political, with a focus on linking up with social and political movements in the region; (3) a commitment to expanding the scope of the project beyond the “Middle East” for comparative as well as intellectual/political purposes. The workshop served as an excellent launching pad for the project, and achieved the following outcomes:
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  • A steering committee of ten elected participants was formed and has held regular discussions since the workshop. It is composed of Bassam Haddad, Joel Beinin, Ahmad Shokr, Omar Dahi, Rafeef Ziadah, Shana Marshall, Adam Hanieh, Mandy Turner, Wael Gamal and Sherene Seikaly.

  • A series of focal points were discussed for follow up over the next period. These include: future workshops, conferences, research projects, pedagogy, resource building efforts, and other activities.

  • A discussion of expansion of the network took place and a draft statement of principles was decided upon. The steering committee is taking this forward and will be inviting prospective members over the coming months.

  • All participants in the workshop presented a short, pre-prepared statement on their vision of political economy and the direction they would like the network to take. These statements are currently being finalized and will soon be published online and through Tadween.

  • Audio recordings were made of all presentations and edited version of this will be made available through STATUS Audio Journal.
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  • An internal website for the project was launched, which will eventually house both a public and members-only section.
More Political Economy Project Workshops

Highlights

Organizers
Bassam Haddad
Adam Hanieh

Papers  &  Presentations
Bassam Haddad, Arab Studies Institute & George Mason University
The  Political  Economy of Definition!  
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Adam Hanieh, SOAS 

Sherene Seikaly, University of California-Santa Barbara

Omar Dahi, Hampshire College
The Different Forms Of Economic Exchange  

Laleh  Khalili, SOAS
What Is Political Economy?  

Joel  Beinin, Stanford  University
Workers and the Arab Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt

Toby Jones, Rutgers University

Melani  Cammett, Harvard  University
Political Economy of Development in the Middle East  

Ziad  Abu­‐Rish, Ohio  University

Max  Ajl,  Cornell  University
Tunisian  Political  Economy  

Pete  Moore, Case Western Reserve University
 
Ahmad  Shokr, New  York  University
Intellectual Inquiry: Understanding Power-­Sharing Publications

Paul  Amar, University of California-Santa Barbara  
Infra­‐structuring New Regional and Moral  Economies: Family Fetsh, Vigilante  Class, Baltagi Effect, Trafficking System

Aaron  Jakes, George Washington University 
New and Not So New in the History of Capitalism

Wael Gamal, Journalist, Economist, Researcher

Rafeef Ziadah, SOAS

Charles  Anderson, Western Washington University

Firat Bozcali, Stanford  University

Toufic Haddad, SOAS 
 
Mandy  Turner, Kenyon  Institute
In support of a critical political economy that  analyses the making and unmaking of the social world

Shana  Marshall,  George Washington University

John  Warner, CUNY

Guests
Chris Toensing
Sheila Carapico
Noura Erakat
Ricky Martin