Reflections on the Study of Contentious Politics in the Middle East and North Africa

The essay reflects on the study of social movements and contentious politics in the Middle East and North Africa region, especially after the wave of uprisings that started in 2011. It argues that these uprisings have been a watershed in contentious politics, yet they have not been adequately scrutinized to develop existing theoretical paradigms in mainstream sociology and political science. Rather, these events were mostly straitjacketed to fit the predominant paradigms of democratic transitions and social movement theory. It concludes by providing preliminary reflections on how the currently dominant methodologies and epistemologies in social sciences might be limiting theoretical development informed by events outside the global North.