Appel à communications : Workshop “The ‘New Yemen’ – Social, Cultural, and Political Ramifications of the ‘Revolution’ Three Years After”, Université de Bonn (Allemagne), 13-14/06/2014 — LIMITE : 28/02/2014
After eleven months of protests, President Ali Abdallah Salih signed the GCC Initiative on November 23, 2011. This deal initiated the end of his 34-year long rule of (Northern) Yemen and the beginning of an institutionalized transition process sponsored and supported by the international community. Observers’ attention on post-‘Arab Spring’ Yemen has accordingly focused on this transition process, particularly on the negotiations in the framework of the National Dialogue Conference as well as on the self-positioning and strategies of the various political actors in the political power struggle. Less attention has been paid to the impact the 2011 upheavals as well as the ensuing process of negotiation, instability, and political and economic crisis have had on Yemeni society as such.
After more than two years of social and political insecurity, an elite conflict at the expense of reform visions, and an unknown end to the transition process, its impact on the ways Yemenis organize their economic, social, and political lives can be observed in multiple ways. New paths have opened up while known ones have broken down. This has resulted in tangible changes in the social, cultural, economic, and political life of Yemenis that will be as much of a legacy to Yemen’s future as will be the political decisions taken on the national level. The organizers of this workshop thus particularly seek contributions on the following topics:
- In how far have the past three years exacerbated, mitigated, or in any other way impacted on social change in modern Yemen?
- In how far have the upheavals and the transition process influenced means, mechanisms, and ways of cultural expression in Yemen with potential lasting effect?
- In how far have the past three years contributed to changes in social and political self-organization on the local, regional, and state level and in how far are these changes likely to influence future practices of governance in Yemen?
Applicants are asked to submit a two-page abstract (about 1,000 words) on the proposed paper by February 28, 2014. Applications from Yemeni researchers are particularly welcome and travel expenses for accepted Yemeni participants will be covered. Accepted participants will be notified by end of March 2014. Papers will be published in an edited volume. Please apply only if you are willing and able to contribute to this edited volume.
Please send your abstracts to Marie-Christine Heinze: heinze@uni-bonn.de
Background: This workshop is part of a wider research project on the Yemeni ‘revolution’ and the subsequent transition process funded by the German Volkswagen Foundation and co-implemented by the University of Bonn and the Yemen Polling Center. Amongst others, this project has resulted in the establishment of the website yemenrevolution.org.
Information http://www.ioa.uni-bonn.de/abteilungen/islamwissenschaft/aktuelles/call-for-papers-yemen-workshop-in-june