German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

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Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM): Imagining Futures - Dealing with Disparity, Phase I

  • The "Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb" (MECAM), founded in 2020, is a platform for regional and international scientific exchange in Tunisia based on the central theme "Imagining Futures - Dealing with Disparity". The centre is located at the renowned Université de Tunis in the Tunisian capital. Its research work focuses on the effects of multidimensional disparity on models, visions and ideas about political, social, economic, and cultural futures.
    BMBF, 2020-2023

    Team

    Cooperation Partners

    Head

    Dr. André Bank

    Senior Research Fellow

    Dr. Thomas Richter

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Accountability and Participation"

    Research Questions

    The research programme of the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb encompasses the five thematic clusters "Inequality & Mobility", "Memory & Justice", "Aesthetics & Cultural Practice", "Resources & Sustainability", "Identities & Beliefs" (the latter one under GIGA's coordination) as well as two transversal axes "Comparative Historical and Regional Perspectives" and "Digital Methods".

    Contribution to International Research

    MECAM's contributes to international research excellence in a number of ways: First, it strengthens the perception of the Maghreb as a geopolitical interface of different world regions, among them Africa, Europe, and the Middle East (Mashriq). Second and related, it thereby aims to overcome the often-held, limited perspective of the Maghreb as a "triple periphery". This is done, third, by connecting with a long tradition of Maghrebi theorizing in different fields. Fourth, MECAM substantially enhances German scholarly engagement with the Maghreb. Fifth and more generally, it contributes to tackling persisting asymmetries in knowledge production.

    Research Design and Methods

    The Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) considers itself an interdisciplinary, interregional and intergenerational research platform on the Maghreb, the Middle East and beyond. Under the guiding theme "Imagining Futures - Dealing with Disparity", MECAM examines the complex processes of (re-)negotiating future models of society ('imagining futures’) in the region about a decade after the beginning of the "Arab Spring", all within the context of unequal starting conditions ('disparity').

    The German Institute for Global and Area Studies is a partner within the MECAM consortium, along with the University of Marburg, the University of Leipzig and the Forum Transregional Studies in Berlin. In addition to the Université de Tunis, the regional partners are the University of Sfax and the Institut Tunisien des Études Stratégiques (ITES) in Tunisia, as well as other partners from Morocco and Lebanon.

    Project Publications

    GIGA Focus Middle East | 1/2024

    Ten Things to Watch in the Middle East and North Africa in 2024

    From the Gaza War to other regional conflicts and the lasting importance of oil, the Middle East and North Africa region remains pivotal for Europe. We present ten issues that will play a central role in the relationship between both regions in the year ahead.

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

    Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Olena Osypenkova

    Doctoral Researcher

    MECAM Papers English | 07/2023

    Quietist Salafism Between (Neo)liberal Apprehensions and Convergence

    There are some striking similarities between quietist Salafi thinking in Morocco and key political and societal dictates of liberal and neoliberal logics. These traditions all variously vilify the state as a means of effecting individual and, ultimately, societal transformation. They also variously locate matters of responsibility at the level of each individual, rather than at the level of society or the state.

    Dr. Guy Eyre

    University of Edinburgh

    MECAM Papers English | 02/2023

    Hand / Camera / Phone: Mobile Cameras, Migration, and Knowledge Production in Our Hands

    Mobile phones have a close relation to the hand itself, when they are used as handheld cameras, or in the way a touchscreen is operated. When mobile phone cameras are used in documentary filmmaking to tell a migrant’s story on their own terms, they offer a “hands-on” approach to digital knowledge production that incorporates not only the reality of its production but also the potential for a change of perspective.

    Angela Jouini

    Freie Universität Berlin

    MECAM Papers English | 11/2022

    Environment and Climate Change in Contemporary Arabic Dystopian Fiction

    Contemporary (predominantly post-2011) Arabic fiction exhibits a dystopian strand that projects a pessimistic view of the future. This literature has become particularly prominent not least because environmental degradation is a major problem in the Arab region.

    Ass. Prof. Dr. Teresa Pepe

    Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oslo

    MECAM Papers English | 11/2022

    Forgetting of Morality, Morality of Forgetting: Reconciliation in Algeria and the Official Erasure of the Political Subject

    The official politics of forgetting involved in Algeria’s post–Civil War reconciliation process poses important moral and political questions about the constitution of the political subject and of citizenship. This MECAM Paper deals with reconciliation in Algeria.

    Prof. Dr. Ratiba Hadj-Moussa

    Department of Social Science, York University

    Related Content

    Understanding the Life Cycle of Academic Publishing: From Journal Targeting to Decision Letters and Response Memos

    Workshop | 27/02/2024 - 29/02/2024

    Understanding the Life Cycle of Academic Publishing: From Journal Targeting to Decision Letters and Response Memos

    Publication Workshop at the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM), Centre Merian pour les études avancées au Maghreb, Tunis Organisers: Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb, German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) Dr. Julia Grauvogel (Speaker)

    This presentation is designed to demystify the submission and review process of journals and discuss publication strategies with the participants. It covers key aspects of publishing scholarly work from journal targeting to understanding decisions letters and writing response memos.

    Dr. Julia Grauvogel

    Senior Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    MECAM Travelling Academy "Solidarities in/between the Middle East & North Africa”

    Workshop | 20/02/2023 - 24/02/2023

    MECAM Travelling Academy "Solidarities in/between the Middle East & North Africa”

    MECAM Travelling Academy "Solidarities in/between the Middle East & North Africa”, Orient Institut Beirut, Beirut Organisers: Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb Dr. Thomas Richter (Panelist)

    Dr. Thomas Richter

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Accountability and Participation"

    New Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in Tunis

    Cooperation | 20/04/2020

    New Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in Tunis

    The GIGA is taking part in the establishment of a Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) in the capital of Tunisia. This research centre will be dedicated to the study of processes of social change that have come about as a result of the Arab protest movements of 2011.

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