TUNIS, After two years of strictly online editions, the Carthage Seminars – an annual forum sponsored by Reset Dialogues on Civilizations on pluralism in the Arab world – are back in person.
This year they will be held in collaboration with and at the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Literature, and Arts Beit al-Hikma in the Tunisian city of Carthage, Tunis.
The conference was organized in collaboration with the Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme and The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation – Délégation en France and will be held July 7-8, with a program bringing together a large number of scholars, young researchers, professors, journalists, and activists from both inside and outside the region.
They will serve – in line with the mission of Reset DOC – to structure and nourish new networks able to foster political and cultural pluralism in different contexts.
“Social protests in the Arab world have inspired hope and optimism and reminded internal and external observers and scholars of persistent realities that challenge democratization.
The divide between secular and religious wings of the political sphere has receded from the forefront, whereas the crosscutting need for welfare, prosperity, efficiency in public services and a more dynamic and free social life is transcending old political cleavages. The Jasmine revolution of December 2010 that began in Tunisia and ignited reform movements across the region is remarkable in contemporary socio-political history. It fueled new research across philosophy, theology, legal theory, politics and the history of ideas, and beyond. However, the last decade has been marked by turmoil and backlash. The Covid-19 global pandemic added immense challenges at the socio-political and economic levels. The rise of tensions between Western powers and Russia, and the latter’s occupation of Ukraine have also provoked a major crisis with immense global economic consequences and worsening living conditions in the Middle East and North Africa, where people have returned to the streets to demand the change promised by the earlier social protests,” a statement issued online said.
It went on to state that: “The 2022 Carthage Seminars aim first to further study social, cultural, religious and political diversity in the Arab world by listening to local scholars and their evaluation of the transformations in the region, and by involving international scholars that have been studying the area for decades.
Speakers will include: Wahid Abdelmeguid, Stefano Allievi, Lisa Anderson, Meysam Badamchi, Joseph Bahout, Amel Boubekeur, Georges Fahmi, Amel Grami, Sharan Grewal, Mohamed Haddad, Sari Hanafi, Mohammed Hashas, Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab, Volker Kaul, Jonathan Laurence, Mohammed Masbah, Nejia Ouriemmi, Renata Pepicelli, and Mounir Saidani, with scientific coordination by Mohammed Hashas.
Participation in the seminar is free but registration is required.
Source: ANSA News Agency