An alternative perspective for political science in North Africa

Hamdy A. Hassan, Zayed University

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Afro Asian Journal of Social Sciences

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

The Arab Spring in early 2011 caused a heated debate about the ability of North African political scientists to make predictions about the future. They failed to forecast the trends and complex events that unfolded in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. Political Science in its North African tradition was unable to foresee the course of the democratization process in the region. Revolutionary experience in Tunisia and Egypt during January and February 2011 highlighted the weakness of some assumptions that prevailed in regional political and social thinking during past years. As a consequence, the discipline failed to develop a useful framework to forecast future events based on past evidence. This paper primarily focuses on the following question: What are the true factors impeding the ability of Political Science in North Africa to predict political phenomena? The question can alternately be framed as asking whether the Arab societies in North Africa can survive and prosper without their political scientists. This study discusses the factors and variables that have affected the orientations and the substance of political science in North Africa. It seeks to assess the current status of political science, especially after the Arab Spring, from a non-western perspective.

ISSN

2229-5313

Volume

8

Issue

3

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

Arab Spring, Egypt, Morocco, Behavioral Approach, Postmodernism, Maghreb, Sharia, Political Development

Indexed in Scopus

no

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Bronze: This publication is openly available on the publisher’s website but without an open license

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