Emergence of diasporic Libyans’ transnational activism and its dynamics in a post-Gaddafi context
This Winter Talk with Houda Mzioudet, discussed by Asma Khalifa and moderated by Guy Eyre (IFG V) explores the Libyan diaspora and their active mobilization in effecting social and political impact with regards the conflict, as well as the formation of the Libyan exiled community after the fall of the regime of Gaddafi and its role in building a network of active intellectuals, politicians and civil society activists in the country’s reconstruction. It maps out the main Libyan diaspora organizations, their nature, and the type of work they do. It contextualizes the diasporic mobilization of exiled Libyans during the 2011 Libyan uprising, and their role in its shaping by highlighting shifting patterns of the diaspora since 2011. Through a comparative perspective, this talk seeks to capitalize on the changes in the scope and nature of the Libyan diasporic mobilization in the peace and reconciliation efforts.
The intervention will be presented in English, with the discussion in English.
Details:
Date of the event: January 4, 2023, 18:00 – 19:30 (CEST)
Location: At the MECAM center, at the ISEAHT 27, rue Florian – Borj Zouara (Bab Saadoun), Tunis. TUNISIEe, Tunis.
Speaker: Houda Mzioudet (University of Toronto)
Discussant: Asma Khalifa (German Institute for Global Area Studies (GIGA))
Moderator: Guy Eyre (SEPAD in the Richardson Institute in Lancaster/ Alwaleed Centre in the University of Edinburgh)
Online session via ZOOM
Meeting ID: 842 6672 8478
Secret Code: 961868
Houda Mzioudet is an academic researcher, a consultant and a journalist having covered the uprisings and their aftermath in Tunisia and Libya between 2011 and 2018 with international outlets such as Al Jazeera English, the CBC, the BBC, +972 Magazine Qantara (Deutsche Welle) etc. She is a research associate with the Global Institute for Research, Education and Scholarship (GIRES). She published articles, research papers, and policy briefs about post-revolution Tunisia and the Libyan conflict for international think-tanks and organizations such as the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, USIP, Oxfam, The German Council for Foreign Relations, the Arab Reform Initiative, the Sadeq Institute, Hate Speech International, Fundación Alternativas, and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung among others. She has co-authored a book titled “Libyan Displacement Crisis: Uprooted by Revolution and Civil War” with the Georgetown University Press in 2016 together with Megan Bradley and Ibrahim Fraihat and has recently authored a chapter titled ‘Breaking the racial taboo: black Tunisian activism as transitional justice’ in the volume Transitional Justice in Tunisia: Innovations, Continuities, Challenges, edited by Simon Robins and Paul Gready, and published with Routledge in 2022. Her research work focuses on transitional justice, border dynamics in North Africa, civil society activism, intersectionality, black identities in the MENA region, gender and media, and migration and diaspora identities. She holds an MA in Cultural Studies from the University of Manouba (Tunisia) and is currently studying for a BA in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Toronto (Canada).
Asma Khalifa is a Libyan activist and researcher who has worked on human rights, women’s rights and youth empowerment since 2011. She co-founded the Tamazight Women Movement, a think/do tank that aims to research and advocate on women’s rights issues in Libya and North Africa. She also co-founded the Khalifa Ihler Institute. She is currently doing her PhD at the German Institute for Global Area Studies (GIGA), researching the impact of civil war on inter-gender relations.
Guy Eyre is a post-doctoral fellow at SEPAD in the Richardson Institute in Lancaster, and an incoming post-doctoral fellow at the Alwaleed Centre in the University of Edinburgh. His work examines religious transnationalism and anti-politics in the Maghreb.