Saeed Rahnema Archives | Research & Innovation

Professor Saeed Rahnema among distinguished thinkers speaking today on the Middle East

fmaquito — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 08:00:00 +0000

The revolutions in the Middle East have, in their wake, left countries struggling with how to reassert relations with regimes that are in transition.

This afternoon, from 2 to 4pm at the at the Munk School at the University of Toronto, 91��ɫ political science Professor (right) will be among a select group of panellists addressing these political shifts and the implications of the "Arab spring" from regional perspectives. Themes for discussion include, humanitarian intervention, nuclear weapons, non-violence and democracy. The panellists:

Emanuel Adler will speak on "The Israeli perspective on Transformation in the Middle East". Adler is professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, Andrea & Charles Bronfman Chair of Israeli Studies, and editor of International Organization.

Adler's interests include the international politics of identity and peace, rationality and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a constructivist reconsideration of strategic logic, including deterrence in post-Cold War international security, the role of practice in international relations, European security institutions, and international relations theory in particular, constructivism, epistemic communities and security communities.

Ramin Jahanbegloo will talk about "Civil Society and the Transformation in the Middle East". Jahanbegloo is an Iranian-Canadian philosopher. He taught in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto from 1997-2001 and later served as the head of the Department of Contemporary Studies of the Cultural Research Centre in Tehran. In 2006-2007, Jahanbegloo was the Rajni Kothari Professor of Democracy at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi, India. In April 2006, he was arrested in Tehran Airport charged with preparing a velvet revolution in Iran. He was placed in solitary confinement for four months and released on bail. He is presently a professor of political science and a research fellow in the Centre for Ethics at University of Toronto and a board member of PEN Canada.

In October 2009, Jahanbegloo became the winner of the Peace Prize from the United Nations Association in Spain for his extensive academic works in promoting dialogue between cultures and his advocacy for non-violence.

Saeed Rahnema will present "The View from Iran towards Transformation in the Middle East". Rahnema is professor of political science at 91��ɫ. He has served as the director of the School of Public Policy & Administration and coordinator of the political science program in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Prior to joining 91��ɫ, he was a professor in the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University. In his homeland of Iran, he taught and worked as a member of the executive of the Industrial Management Institute in Tehran. He is a frequent commentator on Canadian and international media on the issues of the Middle East and Islam, Human Rights, and Left and Labour Movement, and has published several books and numerous articles in English and Farsi (Persian).

He was cited in the �Ѳ��𲹲�’s Guide to Canadian Universities as a "most popular" professor in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. He won the 91��ɫ Teaching Excellence Award in 2004. In 2007, he won the Government of Ontario’s Leadership in Faculty Teaching Award.

Janice Stein is the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science and the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario. Her most recent publications include Networks of Knowledge: Innovation in International Learning (2000); The Cult of Efficiency (2001); and Street Protests and Fantasy Parks (2001). She is a contributor to Canada by Picasso (2006) and the co-author of The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar (2007).

Stein was the Massey Lecturer in 2001 and a Trudeau Fellow. She was awarded the Molson Prize by the Canada Council for an outstanding contribution by a social scientist to public debate. She is an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Space is limited. Organizers ask that those interested in attending RSVP to rsvp@utapss.ca.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Four 91��ɫ professors to explore turmoils in the Middle East today

fmaquito — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Want to understand recent events in Egypt and the surrounding region better? A Teach-in Panel on Turmoils in the Middle East – an area covering North Africa and Western Asia – will be presented this week, featuring 91��ɫ professors from the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

The teach-in will take place Thursday, Feb. 10, at 2:30pm at 2183 Vari Hall, Keele campus, with 91��ɫ history Professor Thabit Abdullah, political science Professor , equity studies professors and Nadia Habib.

Abdullah is the author of , and the co-editor of .

Right: Nadia Habib

A human rights lecturer, Habib was one of the top 10 finalists in TVOntario’s 2010 Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition. Her research focus is on Egyptian cultural life, but she has also directed, produced and performed in live theatre, and is a poet and activist. She continues to be involved in creative projects and wrote and participated in the narration of A Hot Sand Filled Wind, the third instalment of b.h. Yael's film, .

Left: Haideh Moghissi

Moghissi is the author of , which was translated and reprinted in 2010 by a South Korean publisher, and co-editor of , which explores issues of race and ethnicity, culture, media, gender and migration. In 2009, she published a monograph, , co-authored by 91��ɫ political science professors Rahnema and Mark Goodman.

Right: Saeed Rahnema

Rahnema won the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities’ Leadership in Faculty Teaching Award in 2007, the 91��ɫ-Wide Teaching Excellence Award in 2004 and was named most popular professor at 91��ɫ four years in a row by �Ѳ��𲹲�’s Magazine's Guide to Canadian Universities. He is author of , Re-birth of Social Democracy in Iran (Baran Books Verlag, 1996) and co-author of Selected Communities of Islamic Cultures in Canada: A Statistical Profile, Diaspora, Islam and Gender Project (2005).

The event is sponsored by the and the Middle Eastern Student Association at 91��ɫ U.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Professor Haideh Moghissi edits new book on Muslim diaspora in the West

fmaquito — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 10:00:00 +0000

In her ongoing effort to illuminate the experience of Muslims in the West, 91��ɫ Professor Haideh Moghissi has recently produced her second book on the subject, .

Released in December, the volume of essays by scholars from both sides of the Atlantic explores issues of race and ethnicity, culture, media, gender and migration.

The collection is edited by , associate dean external of 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and Halleh Ghorashi, a professor at VU University Amsterdam.

In previews, London-based scholars say the essays “illuminate a rich mix of issues that shape and define the everyday experiences of diasporic Muslims,” address “some of the egregious stereotypes used about the Muslim diaspora” and show how “homogenization of diverse communities may serve political expediency but has a negative effect on the quest for meaningful integration.”

Moghissi, who teaches women’s and equity studies at 91��ɫ, has written the introduction and contributed one essay – “Changing spousal relations in diaspora: Muslims in Canada”. Other essays look at Muslim youth culture in Europe, radicalization of Muslims in Sweden, discrimination against young Muslim French women, and home and belonging for Moroccan-Dutch Muslims.

The essays grew out of a four-year international research project, "Muslim diasporas: Heightened Islamic identity, gender, and cultural resistance". Started in 2006, the project involved scholars in Canada, France, Sweden, Britain and the Netherlands and was funded by the Ford Foundation.

Moghissi is the author of , released in 1999 and still considered timely and relevant. It was translated and reprinted in 2010 by a South Korean publisher. In 2009, she published a monograph, , co-authored by 91��ɫ political science professors and .

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Professor Saeed Rahnema on Iranian woman's sentence to die by stoning

fmaquito — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Professor Saeed Rahnema in the Department of Political Science spoke to the The Globe and Mail July 12 about the reasons why stoning is a rarely used form of execution in Iran (see below). The sentencing of an Iranian woman accused of adultery to die by stoning has garnered international media attention in recent weeks:

In a push back against international efforts to save a 45-year-old woman from death by stoning, an Iranian justice official insists that “Western media propaganda” will not prevent him from carrying out the execution as soon as he gets final judicial approval.

Malek Ajdar Sharifi, the judiciary chief of Iran’s East Azerbaijan, says the crimes committed by Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani were so heinous that “if she had only cut [off] the head of her husband, it would have been better than what she has done.”

. . .

Government officials, celebrities and ordinary citizens from around the world have joined international human-rights organizations in a growing campaign against the stoning sentence given to Ms. Mohammadi Ashtiani. She was first convicted on May 15, 2006, of having an “illicit relationship” with two men, for which she received 99 lashes. At a subsequent trial of a man accused of murdering her husband, Ms. Mohammadi Ashtiani was charged with “adultery while being married.” It is for that crime that she has been sentenced to death by stoning.

. . .

On the weekend, Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, lashed out against the international campaign to spare Ms. Mohammadi Ashtiani, while pointing out that stoning is rarely used.

“The commotion that the Western media has started in connection with this case will not affect our judges’ views,” he said, noting that the West is fixated on the form of capital punishment, not on the crimes. “The execution of Islamic religious laws on [such things as] death by stoning, hijab and inheritance, has always faced their audacious animosity and, basically, any issue which hints of religious law is always opposed by them,” he said.

He also stresses that stonings are infrequent. “I must point out that, first of all, the punishment of death by stoning exists in our constitution but the esteemed judges issue this verdict on very rare occasions.”

It’s rarely used for a reason, says Saeed Rahnema, a professor of political science at 91��ɫ in Toronto. “It’s not at all popular with the people of Iran, and it gives the country an international black eye.”

“The regime is really trying to rein in their number,” Mr. Rahnema said.

The sentence is so unpopular, he added, “the authorities often resort to a rent-a-crowd to carry them out … promising the 20 or 30 people heavenly rewards, as well some financial inducement.”

The complete article is available on the Globe and Mail's .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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