An Islamist "New Wave" After Gaza? Politics, Violence and Faith

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6 hour course by Lurdes Vidal (Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals & Blanquerna - Universitat Ramon Llull)

Schedule: 2, 3 & 4 July (14:00-16:00h)
Venue: Blanquerna

The Islamist electoral rise after the Arab Spring in 2011 was followed by a demise of the Islamist power all around the Middle East and North Africa region. While conservative monarchies managed to dominate the counterrevolution to the Arab Spring, Islamist electoral parties and groups, mainly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, faced loss of popular support and a fierce repression campaign in certain countries. At the same time, the violent branches of Islamism where thriving. Amidst the hardships of electoral Islamism, how will the events in Gaza impact its development? Is it going to alter the alliances among Islamists in the region? Will Islamism evolve into more violent, more secularized or more spiritualized formulas? This course will focus on the diversity of Islamist movements and analyze how they relate to ongoing events in the Middle East and North Africa through the study of the diversity of actors and trends within political Islam.

Lurdes Vidal
Director of the Arab and Islamic World Department at IEMed until 2022. She lectures on Mediterranean, Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) and at Blanquerna-Ramon Llull University.

Having held various positions at the IEMed since 2003, Lurdes was Editor-in-Chief of the journal afkar/idees, Sientific Coordinator of MAGIC (Muslim women and communities Against Gendered Islamophobia in soCiety), and Sientific Coordinator of CONNEKT, H2020 research project, which studies the drivers of radicalisation and violent extremism among youth in MENA and the Balkans. Graduated in Translation and Interpreting from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, she lived in Damascus before studying International Relations and becoming a translator for migrant-related and development cooperation organisations. Passionate about the Arab world, researching into political Islam since 1998, Lurdes is a regular contributor to different media outlets.