1. André Bank and Steffen Wippel at the MECAM table 
2. André Bank and Steffen Wippel with alumni fellows Lisa Lipert and Mohamed Sabry, at the MECAM table

Conférence internationale ISA 2023, Ifrane

At the Conférence internationale ISA 2023, held June 21-23 in Ifrane, Morocco, Julius Dihstelhoff, academic coordinator of MECAM, presented the results of his research in the panel Europe’s Complex Ties with Regions to its South. Other panel contributions were made by Stephan Lau of the Federal University for Applied Administrative Sciences and Francesco Spera of the Università di Salento. The panel was chaired by Lars Berger (Federal University for Applied Administrative Sciences), and Ahmed Salem (Zayed University) discussed the contributions. This year’s conference, themed Afrique, Moyen-Orient et Maghreb: Société, Etat et Solidarités, is organized by the International Studies Association (ISA), one of the oldest interdisciplinary associations dedicated to understanding international, transnational, and global affairs.

You can download the programme here

Presentation-debate on the book “Les raisins de la domination. Une histoire sociale de l’alcool en Tunisie à l’époque du Protectorat (1881-1956)”.

MECAM organizes, on May 4 in collaboration with the IRMC and on May 5, 2023 in collaboration with the Laboratoire Monde Arabo-Islamique Médiéval, a presentation-debate on the book “Les raisins de la domination. Une histoire sociale de l’alcool en Tunisie à l’époque du Protectorat (1881-1956)”, in the presence of the author Nessim Znaien, Associate Professor at the Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany), for the History of the colonial and post-colonial Maghreb, historian and associate researcher at the IRMC, and member of the executive council of MECAM.

Calendrier

Presentation

Did colonisation modify the daily life of the population? It is from this general questioning that Nessim Znaien approaches the history of Tunisia during the Protectorate (1881-1956). By analysing the letters of the high administration, the press, the literary writings, the police, judicial and hospital archives, this book deals with particular products in the land of Islam: alcoholic drinks. Despite the religious ban on wine and alcoholic beverages to which the Muslim majority of the population is subjected, various elites converged from the beginning of the 20th century to invent a Tunisian wine tradition. It was a question of justifying the planting of vines, which the French colonisers imposed from the 1890s onwards, to supply the metropolitan market with wine, in the context of the phylloxera crisis which affected a large part of the French vineyards. This wine production led to a boom in the consumption of alcoholic drinks in Tunisia. The rural landscapes of the north of the country were covered with vines, while the main towns saw a sharp increase in the number of drinking establishments. This democratisation of alcohol ended up posing a political problem for the colonial authorities and the Tunisian nationalist elites and led to a wave of prohibition from the First World War onwards, reaching its peak in the 1930s. In the last twenty years of the Protectorate, public drunkenness and the consumption of alcoholic beverages by Muslims made the Tunisian and French elites react less and less. The consumption of alcohol became increasingly trivial, even though it continued to increase. In an approach based on material culture and the history of food, this book approaches the history of alcoholic beverages as a “total fact”, revealing political and religious mentalities, as well as economic standards of living and relationships of domination within societies.

Photography exhibition: ‘Working hands in arid lands’ by Lisa M.Sarida Lippert

How does the everyday life of small farmers look like against the background of global
warming?
Using the power of visuals, the 2022 photo series which emerged from field research as part of MECAM Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (IFG) IV «Resources & Sustainability» seeks to give answers to that question. It focuses on the hands of those working the land, emphasizing their connection to and dependence on natural resources.
By merging emic and etic perspectives, it stirs critical reflection upon dominant representations of rural populations as passive victims. Further, it sheds light on the power and responsibility researchers have in the areas of resources and sustainability and beyond in creating those representations.

Extractvisim lecture series “Climate change and raw materials: risk or opportunity?” with Rachid Ouaissa

9 Februray 2023 

As part of the Extractvisim lecture series “Climate change and raw materials: risk or opportunity?”, Prof. Dr. Rachid Ouaissa, one of the two directors of MECAM, will speak on the topic “500 years of interdependence between the Maghreb and Europe”. As in most non-European countries, the most important events in the history of the 19th and 20th centuries are the relations of Maghreb countries with the capitalist and industrial powers. Colonial triumphs led to serious inequalities and contradictions that led to liberation movements. The history of the colonial construction of the region is also the history of the emergence of colonial power techniques and colonial dynamics to create geographical realities as well as postcolonial interdependencies.

Indeed, even in the post-colonial phase, the Maghreb and Europe are closely linked. With a clear European dominance, the EU dictates migration, security, trade and energy policies and has a monopoly of knowledge in the Mediterranean and the Maghreb. The question then arises as to whether we are dealing with a kind of colonial or even imperialist ‘longue durée’.

You can download the programme here

Lecture series Studium Generale of the Philipps-Universität Marburg: Dr. Isabelle Werenfels “The Maghreb in Africa: Ambivalence and Competition”

As part of the Studium Generale lecture series at the Philipps-Universität Marburg in the winter semester 2022/23 with the theme “From the Atlantic to the Hindu Kush… A History of Interdependence” Dr. Isabelle Werenfels, President of the International Advisory Board of the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) and Researcher at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), will speak on the topic “The Maghreb in Africa: Ambivalence and Competition”.

The conference can be followed live under this link.

You can download the programme here.

Second lecture of the Hichem Djaït Chair: Histories and Cultures of Islam entitled “Qīmat al-wakt: Piety, Productivity and the Use of Time in Modern Islamic Discourse”.

For the launch of the “Hichem Djaït Chair: Histories and Cultures of Islam” within the University of Tunis – inaugurated in March 2022 in homage to the great Tunisian Islamologist and historian – the University of Tunis in partnership with the Institute of Research on the Contemporary Maghreb (IRMC), the National Library of Tunisia and the MECAM, has decided to start a cycle of conferences dedicated to him. Within this framework, starting in November, a professor of international renown will be invited each month to give a lecture related to the thematic field of Hichem Djaït’s research.

Prof. Gudrun Krämer (Professor Emeritus at the Freie Universität Berlin, former Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies) will be invited on Friday, 16 December 2022 at 15:00 at the National Library of Tunis for the second lesson of the Hichem Djaït Chair: Histories and Cultures of Islam entitled “Qīmat al-wakt: Piety, Productivity and the Use of Time in Modern Islamic Discourse”.

Other internationally renowned scientists will be invited to Tunis in the following months – among them:

• Roberto Tottoli (Università degli Studi di Napoli l’Orientale/Italy)
• John Tolan (Professor of History Member of the Academia Europæa Member of the Institut d’Etudes Avancées de Nantes Director of the ERC project “The European Qur’an (EuQu)”/France)
• François Déroche (Statutory Chair Professor at the Collège de France/Paris, France)

MECAM is supporting this series of events with funds from its partner institution, the Philipps-Universität Marburg.

=> link recording Video

Extractivism in Comparison: Reflexions on Trans-Regional Research Concepts and Methods

CrossArea e.V. in cooperation with BMBF Collaborative Research Project Extractivism.de / Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM), Universities of Marburg and Tunis, GIGA German Institute for Global and Area Studies Hamburg / Centro de Estudos Latinoamericanos (CELA), University of Kassel / Centrum for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS), University of Marburg / Merian Centre for Advanced Latin American Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CALAS) / University of Kassel, and Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico organizes the annual conference “Extractivism in Comparison: Reflexions on Trans-Regional Research Concepts and Methods”.

Extractivism is a global phenomenon, and understanding and explaining extractivism remains a challenge for cross-area studies, mainly because the way extractivism is approached varies significantly from region to region, both scientifically and politically.

(Cross-) area studies, on their part, are currently challenged to integrate seemingly global processes. The COVID-19 pandemic made once more apparent that the world is entangled in a global condition, and events in one location rapidly affect all other connecting locations. However, reactions to the pandemic diverged, as did the effects of the pandemic. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has also clarified this global interconnectedness. Both events challenge current theoretical and methodological approaches to (cross-)area studies. They support a renewed discussion on their current state, methodological tools, and future academic role in the research landscape.

For this reason, this workshop will address the possibilities and limitations of the methodological toolbox of (cross-)area studies and global comparisons. Based on this discussion, the workshop takes extractivism as an entry point into discussing the depth of similar patterns of social change in different world regions.

You can download the program here

“Institutional Workshop on Research Data Management”

Maria Sibylla Merian Centre Conviviality-Inequality in Latin America (Mecila) organized the “Institutional Workshop on Research Data Management” in Cologne 23.-25.11.2022. The workshop was intended as an exchange of experience between representatives of Merian Centres. Jessica Metz (Forum Transversale Studien: FTS) was invited to contribute to and moderate the roundtable “Fair-Data, Open Science and Sustainability of Research Data”, which mainly dealt with experiences within the framework of the European Research Council (ERC) projects hosted by the FTS. The contribution of the FTS for MECAM is based on these experiences.

You can download the program here.

Extractivism Annual International Conference 2022  “Raw Materials, the Global South and Development in the 21st Century: mobilizing rents, grasping extractivist societies.”

With the participation of MECAM director Prof. Rachid Ouaissa the collaborative research project Extractivism.de organizes its first Annual International Conference from the 12th to the 14th of October, 2022, in Kassel, Germany. The conference’s theme is “Raw Materials, the Global South and Development in the 21st Century: mobilizing rents, grasping extractivist societies.”. This year’s conference aims to reconceptualize the theoretical relationship between extractivism and rents, stimulating deeper analyses concerning the particular and nuanced types of rent-led development trajectories. It wants to explore how and in what ways societies specializing in extracting and exporting raw materials reproduce themselves primarily through the revenues obtained by selling them to the global market. It also seeks to bring together ideas from different disciplinary fields in which rents and extractivism have major relevance, broadening the space for dialogue between Political Economy, Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, International Relations, and Cultural Studies.

You can download the program here

The Transformation of Silence: with Héla Ammar and Souad Mani curated by Marianna Liosi

With a focus on persisting injustices in post-2011 Tunisia, the Transformation of Silence is an exhibition curated by Marianna Liosi that explores different forms of truth seeking, as well as the emotions linked to persisting social injustices that affect the country and its communities. Stemming from personal and societal feelings of rage, frustration, and disillusion, a variety of artworks by Tunisian artists Héla Ammar and Souad Mani seek to express dissent and political action. They provide an overview of the challenges that the Tunisian civil society has to face, from legacies of injustice, massive migration to severe pollution. Simultaneously, the works play as “glitches” in the current social and political system that can open the space for political change.

The show brings together performative videos, video installations, sculptures, photographs, as well as new productions and archive materials that trace trajectories through spaces, confronting historical moments and desires across times.

The title of the exhibition is inspired by a speech held by Afro-American writer, womanist, radical feminist, professor and civil rights activist Audre Lorde, which is an invocation to take action and speak out.

The Transformation of Silence, curated by Marianna Liosi, is one of the outcomes of her 2021 fellowship on Memory & Justice, at Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM), Tunis. The event is the result of, and has been made possible by the cooperation between MECAM and La Boîte (Tunis), with the kind support of Fatma Kilani.

Media coverage (Lapresse , Justiceinfo )

Journée d’Etudes on « Identities and Social Dynamics » at University of Sfax

On 24-25 June, IFG V joined their partners at ECUMUS Lab at Sfax University for a Journée d’Etudes on the theme of “Identities and Social Dynamics.” The coordinator of IFG V Alyssa Miller took part in the opening and moderation of one the sessisons. The IFG V Fellow Elizabeth Bishop held a presentation titled “Beautiful Patience: UGEMA Leaders in ‘Brotherly’ Morocco, 22 October 1956” and the fellow Shreya Parikh talked about “Gendered contructions of race in Tunisia”.

IFG V members meet film critic Kamel Ben Ouanes and filmmaker Sarra Abidi

On Wednesday 01 June 2022, members of IFG V “Identities and Beliefs”  met with film critic Kamel Ben Ouanes and filmmaker Sarra Abidi at the Majestic Hotel. It was an opportunity to talk with Mr. Kamel about the historical intersection of politics and cinema in Tunisia (through the institution of the cine-club). It was also an opportunity for members of IFG V “Identities and Beliefs” to share their experience of using documentary film as a social science research tool. The latter conversation was based on the experiences of the fellows in a documentary film training programme, led by Sarra Abidi. The participating fellows benefited from hands-on learning and were guided by a professional filmmaker through the conceptualisation, shooting and post-production stages.

Exchange between IFG IV and Prof. em. Habib Ayeb during an internal seminar

During an internal seminar, IFG IV fellows had the time to exchange with Prof. Ayeb (University of Paris 8, Observatory of Food Sovereignty and Environment). Dr. habil. Steffen Wippel, who is currently coordinator of the interdisciplinary fellowship group “Resources and Sustainability”, participated in this meeting. More information on the IFG IV Fellowship Programme “Resources & Sustainability”: https://mecam.tn/ifg-iv/

Tunis 16 May 2022

IFG V Excursion to Sousse/Sfax/Kerkennah

An excursion was taken by members of IFG V to Sousse, Sfax and Kerkennah in March 28 until 1 April 2022, to encounter social and political actors. This culminated in a series of essays that reflect on encounters at the UGTT headquarters and heritage spaces in the union’s geographical strongholds. The timing of the series’ appearance has proven serendipitous, as it coincided with a general strike declared by the UGTT for 16 June, in opposition to structural reforms proposed by the IMF.  In addition to an introductory essay written by Alyssa Miller and Arbia Selmi, stand-alone essays by Alyssa Miller, André Bank, Elizabeth Bishop, and Arbia Selmi have been posted on the #TRAFOBlog.

Destination Tunisia: Changing border regimes and Syrian displacement trajectories in the Global South

Dr. Wael Garnaoui (founder of the Border Studies Group, University of Sousse) will chair the webinar with interventions from Dr. Ann Zuntz (MECAM & University of Edinburgh), Marwen Bounab (University of Sousse), Asma Ben Hadj Hassen & Francesco Teo Ficcarelli (Mixed Migration Centre), and will be moderated by Dr. Marouen Taleb (Tunis Research Institute on Contemporary Maghreb). The first half of the webinar will provide insights into Syrians’ flight trajectories to Tunisia, presenting results from recent ethnographic fieldwork led by Dr. Ann Zuntz. The research comprised interviews with Syrian households, policymakers and aid providers in Tunisia; it redirects the focus from South-North journeys across the Mediterranean to South-South movement. The study demonstrates how pre-war migration and trade ties between Syria and Tunisia and Tunisia’s complex migration landscape have shaped Syrians’ conditions of arrival. Changing border regimes in Arab host countries have reordered Syrian movements across the Middle East and North Africa, forcing the poorest Syrians to travel the longest, most dangerous, and most expensive routes to reach Tunisia. MMC will close the webinar with insights from quantitative survey data collected over the last two years with Syrians residing in Tunisia which will shed light on the most common routes taken journey experiences and intentions for the future. Following the presentations, our discussant Marouen Taleb will respond with his comments and lead into the Q&A session.

The webinar is held virtually on Tuesday 8 February 2022, 17h00 – 18h30 (CET) (16h00 – 17h30 UTC) after register on Eventbrite

download here 

Dialogue Forum – “Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic on science and research in partner regions of the Merian Centers”

In their contribution to the Science Festival Globe21, the Merian Centres (represented by ICAS:MP – Delhi/India -; CALAS – Guadalajara/Mexico -; Mecila – Sao Paulo/Brasil – ; MIASA – Accra/Ghana -; MECAM – Tunis/Tunisia) will contribute from their perspective to a better understanding and general reflection on the immanent, but also the possible long-term implications of the COVID-19 crisis for research conditions in the Global South and international scientific cooperation. • Context information DOWNLOAD 

Digitization

As part of the cooperation between the University of Tunis and the University of Marburg, this round table aims to explore the prospects of digitization