The Two Year Initiative on Islam and Other Religions

Visiting Scholars

Ellis Goldberg

• Two Lectures on November 17, 2011
• 1:00 p.m. in Lane's Center for Meeting and Learning, CML 220 (capacity 120)
• 5:30 pm in Lane's Center for Meeting and Learning, CML 104 (capacity of 200)
• Free and open to the entire community.

Afternoon Lecture

Armies, Democracy and Suggestion for US Policy in the Middle East

Abstract:

The military in Egypt has assumed control of the revolutionary process. This is a very different situation than exists in Tunisia where the military stood aside from the transition or Libya where it had been profoundly weakened by the Qaddafi regime itself. It also differs from both Syria and Yemen where the armed forces, or at least important sections of it, remain strongly in favor of maintaining the regime. Ellis Goldberg will discuss why the Egyptian military has taken a different path than other Arab militaries and the implications for US policy of supporting powerful military forces in the region if it in fact wishes to promote democratic transitions.

Evening Lecture

Egyptian Spring: Desperately Seeking Revolution

Abstract:

In 18 days at the beginning of 2011 massive protests in Egypt brought down the government of President Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power.  Protesters wanted changes in a government that was repressive, unresponsive, as well as incompetent and corrupt.  The armed forces stepped in with a promise to safeguard the revolution and provide a transition to an elected civilian government.  As the year winds to its end, Egyptians are wondering how this will all end.  Professor Goldberg will address some of the causes of the revolution as well as the political conflicts that have continued to roil the country in the period since February.  He will discuss some of the economic, social and political problems that any government must attempt to resolve if Egypt, in this case, is to have a government that is stable, democratic and successful.

Bio:

Ellis Goldberg, (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1983) is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. He specializes in the study of Middle Eastern politics. From 1995-1999 he chaired the Middle East Center of the Jackson School of International Studies. His first book, Tinker, Tailor and Textile Worker (University of California Press, 1986), deals with the Egyptian labor movement. His most recent book is Trade, Reputation and Child Labor in 20th Century Egypt (Palgrave/MacMillan, 2004). Other publications include works on Muslim political movements in Islam, the origins of the post-colonial trade union movement in Egypt, and human rights. He has been a visiting professor at Princeton University and from 2007-2008 Prof. Goldberg was a visiting research fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University.  He was teaching at the American University in Egypt and living in Cairo from January 16 until June 7, 2011 and spent many days in Midan al-Tahrir and on the streets of Egypt.