MENA political science research a decade after the Arab uprisings: Facing the facts on tremulous ground

Published: 2021
Mediterranean Politics

Abstract

This introductory article to the Special Issue MENA Political Science Research a Decade after the Arab Uprisings: Facing the Facts on Tremulous Grounds takes stock of MENA political science research a decade after the Arab uprisings. Engaging with key contributions from social movement and protest studies, comparative politics, and International Relations, we discuss three overarching questions that we consider as particularly important today: First, does ‘2011’ represent a critical juncture for the respective MENA research fields? Second, what promises does a revisiting of the Area Studies Controversy hold in light of the Arab uprisings? Third, which changes has the past decade yielded for the ways political science research in/on MENA is done? Against this background, we present the six contributions to the special issue.