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Mediterranean Renaissance Program
Session: Towards a democratic Maghreb-Mashrek? / Vers un Maghreb-Mashreq démocratique?
Chair(s): Maria Paradiso & Ali ToumiAbstract:
January 2011 was announced for the Maghreb countries as the beginning of a new era: the emergence and confirmation of a strong desire of people to break with authoritarian regimes and establish a true democracy. The Tunisian revolution, quickly relayed by one in Egypt, announced the thirst for democracy throughout the Arab countries. The origins of this thirst for democracy are in large measure clear: authoritarian regimes or dictatorships clearly lined by corruption, poor social situations illustrated by an increasing impoverishment already exacerbated for poor sectors, and in addition, the laminating of the middle class, rent economies often undermined by crime networks and / or partnerships often questionable, and finally diplomatic relations marked by an interested complaisance. At the time of this writing, the democratic revolutions here and there in the Arab world are still in progress. Beyond their domestic specificities which need to be examined in detail all have in common a desire to establish democracy and freedom of peoples as basic principles in political life. In this respect, the Tunisian revolution was seen by some as a sort of model or at least as a catalyst for all other countries throughout the Arab world. Other motivations, reasons, international interplays need to be further examined; also it is desirable to initially track the prospects for changes and their nature. A broad initial question can be put: what are the changes and also permanencies which can be envisaged in the region? Papers are invited to critically examine how and why democratic movements arose in North Africa and the Middle East, and envisage geopolitical changes/permanences in those countries. Can these paths be modelled on a general basis? How deep have domestic circumstances and international embededness affect evolutions? What are the social, economic and spatial implications of recent evolutions for people and places? Proposed topics and sub-topics: Topic I: The Maghreb-Mashrek, a region in thirst for democracy
1. Authoritarian regimes and changes
2. Unstable social condition
3. The Maghreb and Maskrek economies between fragility and success
4. Environmental vulnerability
5. New urbanization and socio-cultural change
6. Local/global interplay in recent evolutions
Topic II: The Tunisian Revolution as catalyst of the Arab peoples
1. The Tunisian Revolution
1.1. Itineraries and geographies of a revolution: critical examinations
1.2. Youth and NICT in the Tunisian revolution
1.3. Towards a new political landscape in Tunisia?
1.4. New socio-economic and spatial challenges of Tunisia in post-revolution
1.5. New socio-cultural challenges: multiculturalism, secularism, gender, mobility
2. Regional and global geopolitical implications of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt
2.1. A political awakening of the Maghreb
2.2. Towards a democratic Arab Mashrek
2.3. International/national solidarities and resistances
2.4. Geo-economic and geopolitical implications in the Mediterranean and beyond
Topic III: A prospective Geography: Mediterranean, Europe and the Arab world tomorrow
1. Towards an integrated socio-economic and spatial Maghreb and Mashreq?
2. Towards a revitalization of the Arab Maghreb Union and the Union for the Mediterranean?
Abstract submission:
1. Abstracts, written in English or French, should be sent simultaneously to MRP session- Chairs : Maria Paradiso (paradiso@unisannio.it), and Ali Toumi ( alitoumi2003@yahoo.fr) by 30 June 2011.
2.Following approval by the session chairs please send your abstract to the IGU Cologne submission website before 15 December 2011.
3. Full papers (optional): please send before 15 May 2012 to Maria Paradiso and Alì Toumi . MRP intends to publish a selection of papers in collaboration with one of its partners.
Timeslots: 2
Session: Recent developments of geography of energy
Chair(s): Maria Paradiso & Stan BrunnAbstract:
MRP welcomes papers and participants with an interest in the ways that mega projects of renewable energy affect, and are influenced by regional, local characteristics and business decisions. The comnplexity and scope of change associated with technologies such as the smart grid, affect many facets of energy distribution across large spaces. Of particular interest to the MRP is the spatial dimension of recent projects for renewable energy in the Southern Mediterranean countries and its distribution locally and to Europe. Projects carried out by the Union for the Mediterranean so called 'Solar Plan' and projects by large corporations (German and French ones). It is of specific interests for geographers to examine and assess how the deployment of thes projects make countries evolve in different places/scales, and reflect about the local economic, social and political change in terms also of who benefits and who can be eventually excluded. Mediterranean region is evolving as different societies, cultures and countries interact with business and technology . Papers are invited to critically and with open mind examine how Renewable Energy envisaged mega projects affects people and places as well as the spatial, social and economic implications of renewable energies.
Timeslots: 1