CMES

Newsletter #30

September 2022

Almedalen Seminars on Democracy and Gender-Just Peace in the Middle East Now Available Online

CMES hosted two seminars during the 2022 Almedalen week and both seminars are now available online (in Swedish) on YouTube.

"Democracy in the Middle East": Cecilia Uddén (Swedish Radio), Isabell Schierenbeck (University of Gothenburg), Robert Rydberg (Ministry for Foreign Affairs), Rouzbeh Parsi (Swedish Institute of International Affairs), and Karin Aggestam (CMES). "Gender-Just Peace in the Middle East": Charlotta Sparre (Swedish Dialogue Institute for the Middle East and North Africa), Emma Sundkvist (Lund University), Joel Abdelmoez (CMES), Marie Wikström (Kvinna till Kvinna), and Karin Aggestam (CMES). 

Start of New Project on Memory, Space and Religion in Middle Eastern Nationalisms

The new MECW project "Beyond Sacred/Secular Cities" was introduced in a seminar on September 8. CMES is delighted to be joined by Torsten Janson (Islamic Studies), Jayne Svenungsson (Systematic Theology), Barbara Törnquist-Plewa (European Studies) and Mattias Kärrholm (Architectural Theory).

Climate Change, Migration and Conflict

CMES researcher Lina Eklund has been interviewed by climate journalist Peter Alestig for his new book on the effects of climate change in Sweden - Världen som väntar: vårt liv i klimatförändringens Sverige (English translation: The World That Awaits: Our Life in Sweden During Climate Change). Lina Eklund contributes with her research on conflict and climate change. She also addresses the intersections of climate, migration and conflict more generally.

Democracy and Mass Uprisings in Tunisia

CMES scholar Sarah Anne Rennick has been interviewed in the BBC World Service Podcast "The Inquiry" about democracy in Tunisia. Sarah's interview (ffw to 6:00) addresses the mass uprising in Tunisia in early 2011 and the ouster of authoritarian President Ben Ali. Ben Ali ruled through a "dark bargain" allowing him far reaching control, building a patriarchal state with himself as the father of the nation. Corruption was rife and there was almost no space for oppositional politics.

Killer Heat in the Middle East

CMES scholar Lina Eklund was recently interviewed by Swedish Public Television (SVT) about rising temperatures in the Middle East. She discusses the wet-bulb temperature's effects on health, especially in areas close to bodies of water with high temperatures, such as the Persian Gulf. Predictions show that the temperature may make areas in the Middle East too hot for humans by the end of the century. Photo: Jeremy Bezanger, Unsplash

Laleh Foroughanfar Successfully Defends Her PhD Thesis

CMES PhD researcher Laleh Foroughanfar successfully defended her PhD thesis The Street of Associations - Migration and Infrastructural (Re)Production of Norra Grängesbergsgatan, Malmö on September 2. In conversation with faculty opponent Professor Michele Lancione (Polytechnic University of Turin) and the examination board, Laleh discussed her work on streetmaking, urban infrastructures and migration in Norra Grängesbergsgatan (NGBG) in Malmö. Read more here.

Arab Youth Activism

CMES scholar Sarah Anne Rennick has recently presented her research at Aarhus University. On September 6, she gave a guest lecture in the undergraduate course "Arab Society and Culture" and on September 7 she gave a presentation at the research unit on Islamic Society and Culture. Her presentation was titled "After Uprising: Arab Youth Activism and Social Imaginaries in the Post-2011" and addressed her work on Arab youth political mobilization and socialization since 2011.

Floods and Climate Migration in Pakistan

CMES scholar Lina Eklund was recently interviewed by Dagens Nyheter about the catastrophic floods in Pakistan and their links to climate migration. She says that the ongoing migration patterns in Pakistan are the most common form of climate migration, arguing that these are people who are trying to escape the direct danger of the situation, leaving their homes with the hope of being able to return again soon. Read the article in Swedish or excerpts of it in English.

Wildfire Photo Exhibition: The World is Burning

The World is Burning is a photo exhibition about the causes and effects of wildfires in the anthropocene as part of Lund's Culture Night. Over the last years, wildfires have become more frequent and now constitute a global threat to life on earth. The exhibition opens on September 17 at 12:30 with a short introduction by its researchers and runs until October 10 in the garden of the Pufendorf Institute at Biskopsgatan 3. All are welcome! (Photo: Yasin Akgulg)

Yemeni Capacity-Building Workshop for Climate Adaptation

CMES scholar Helen Avery co-organized a well-attended and successful two-day workshop on community capacity-building in Yemen for climate adaptation of agriculture and water management in remote rural areas. The high-level workshop was held at the Columbia Global Center in Amman on 11-12 August. The participants discussed strategies for training farmers and developing communities' capacity to rapidly adapt to changing climate and weather patterns.

Peatland Carbon Sequestration

CMES PhD researcher Behshid Khodaei participated in the Nordic Hydrological Conference at Tallinn University in Estonia on 15-18 August. She presented a paper titled "Estimating peatland carbon sequestration in southern Sweden using InSar" in a session on water and ecosystems for human well-being. The paper argues that since peatlands are seen as carbon pools, it is important to evaluate their conditions for climate change impact studies. As such, accurate and continuous monitoring of their conditions is crucial to evaluate carbon cycling in peat-rich countries.

"Politiska aktivister från Mellanöstern – en energi för Europas demokratier"

"Middle East Political Mobilization: An Opportunity for European Democracy"

Authors: Sarah Anne Rennick and Dalia Abdelhady

"Mitigation and Adaptation Measures"

Authors: Sahar Baghban, Omid Bozorg-Haddad, Ronny Berndtsson, Mike Hobbins and Nadhir Al-Ansari

"Towards an integrated system modeling of water scarcity with projected changes in climate and socioeconomic conditions"

Authors: S. Dehghani, A.R. Massah Bavani, A. Roozbahani, A. Gohari and Ronny Berndtsson

"The gender-resilience nexus in peacebuilding: the quest for sustainable peace"

Authors: Karin Aggestam and Linda Eitrem Holmgren

"How capital shapes refugees’ access to the labour market: the case of Syrians in Sweden"

Authors: Dalia Abdelhady and Akram Al Ariss