Dr. Maria Josua

Perceptions of State-Society Relations, MECAM, Tunis Dr. Maria Josua (Organiser)

This workshop tackled the question of state-society relations in the Maghreb from a historical perspective. Focusing on the late phase of the rule of Ben Ali, the contributors investigated the interrelationship of communication and control between societal and state actors. Comparative analyses embedded the historical findings from Tunisia into the bigger picture of developments in the MENA.

MESA Annual Meeting 2024, Online Organisers: Middle East Studies Association Dr. Maria Josua (Speaker)

At the virtual Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, Maria Josua presented the results of her DFG-funded project on how the Tunisian president's speeches were received during the Arab uprisings in 2010-2011.

Organiser: Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Dr. Maria Josua (Consultant)

At a virtual lunch talk, Maria Josua discussed with IMES associate Kressen Thyen and the head of the Naumann foundation's Tunis office Alexander Knipperts how and why the political situation in Tunisia has evolved since the Arab uprisings. They reflected on options to strengthen civil society during the current phase of autocratization.

This widely cited and currently most-read article in Mediterranean Politics provides a concise overview of how the Arab uprisings changed repression in Arab states on the one hand. On the other hand, it points to lacunae in existing repression research and lines out several approaches and themes that are becoming relevant in researching repression in the MENA and beyond.

This article investigates the communication of everyday repression in autocracies. It analyzes data from the novel "Justifications of Repressive Incidents in Morocco and Tunisia Dataset (JuRI)" covering human rights violations and judicial repression in the years 2000-2010.

In this article, Maria Josua sketches the state of the art of the interrelation between legitimation and repression in autocracies, pointing to existing research on framing and political communication in autocracies and the role of rhetoric in protest policing.

In this article, Maria Josua analyses the regional and local vis-à-vis international drivers of diffusion. The introduction of antiterror legislation in Arab countries followed domestic attacks and regional examples rather than international obligations after 9/11. After the Arab uprisings, the modification of counterterror legislation was driven by fears of protests and aimed at criminalizing dissent.

This novel event dataset contains information on 439 repressive incidents in Morocco and Tunisia from 2000-2010. It disaggregates various dimensions of repression and its justification. The JuRI dataset is based on a compilation of publicly available human rights reports.

https://doi.org/10.7802/2438

Dr. Maria Josua analyses the political situation in Algeria ahead of the presidential elections, where the incumbent President Tebboune is likely to win given the autocratic context. 

Letting Both Sides Speak? Reporting on Authoritarian Regimes in Democratic Media, Online Event Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) Dr. Maria Josua (Consultant)

Maria Josua organized and moderated a virtual GIGA Forum on how to report on autocratic regimes in Western media.

Perceptions of State-Society Relations, MECAM, Tunis Dr. Maria Josua (Organiser)

This workshop tackled the question of state-society relations in the Maghreb from a historical perspective. Focusing on the late phase of the rule of Ben Ali, the contributors investigated the interrelationship of communication and control between societal and state actors. Comparative analyses embedded the historical findings from Tunisia into the bigger picture of developments in the MENA.

MESA Annual Meeting 2024, Online Organisers: Middle East Studies Association Dr. Maria Josua (Speaker)

At the virtual Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, Maria Josua presented the results of her DFG-funded project on how the Tunisian president's speeches were received during the Arab uprisings in 2010-2011.

Organiser: Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Dr. Maria Josua (Consultant)

At a virtual lunch talk, Maria Josua discussed with IMES associate Kressen Thyen and the head of the Naumann foundation's Tunis office Alexander Knipperts how and why the political situation in Tunisia has evolved since the Arab uprisings. They reflected on options to strengthen civil society during the current phase of autocratization.