Lecture 3: The Arab World’s Debate about the Political Role of Islam
2015/1/27 14:06:12
Lecture 3: The Arab World’s Debate about the Political Role of Islam Jan . 27 . 2015
The Arab World’s Debate about the Political Role of Islam: Findings from Survey Research
Guest Speaker): Professor Mark Tessler
Moderator: Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Shanghai Jiaotong University, School of International and Public Affairs Professor, Assistant Dean, and Executive Director, Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations
Time：10:30 a.m.to 11:45 a.m. Nov. 8th, 2012 (Thursday)
Location：Room 3005, Xin Jian Building
Bio: MARK TESSLER is Samuel J. Eldersveld Collegiate Professor of Political Science and Vice Provost for International Affairs at the University of Michigan, with specializations in Comparative Politics and Middle East Studies. He has studied and/or conducted field research in Tunisia, Israel, Morocco, Egypt, and Palestine. He is one of the very few American scholars to have attended university and lived for extended periods in both the Arab world and Israel. Many of Professor Tessler’s scholarly publications examine the nature, determinants, and political implications of attitudes and values held by ordinary citizens the Middle East. This work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Institute for Peace, the U.S. State Department, and others. Reports of his data-based research have appeared in many of the top political science journals, including Comparative Politics, World Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Studies Quarterly, and Public Opinion Quarterly. His most recent book is Public Opinion in the Middle East: Survey Research and the Political Orientations of Ordinary Citizens (2011). Professor Tessler also co-directs the Arab Barometer Survey project. The first wave of surveys, completed in 2009, was named the best new data set in comparative politics by the American Political Science Association in 2010.
Abstract：Whether and how Islam should play a role in government and political affairs has for some time been one of the most contested and hotly debated issues in the Arab world. Moreover, this question has assumed even greater importance in the wake of the Arab Spring, with public opinion more influential than ever and Islamist parties scoring victories in a number of recent elections. Drawing upon rigorous original public opinion research, Professor Tessler will examine the nature, determinants and political implications of the views about Islam’s political role held by ordinary men and women in fourteen Arab countries.