Jenkins, J. Craig Katherine Meyer Ohio State University
SBE-0527564 Philip Schrodt Deborah Gerner University of Kansas
SBE-0527498 Christian Davenport Jillian Schwedler University of Maryland, College Park
SBE-0527339 Mary Ann Tetreault Trinity University
This project will complete a program of research on the interaction between dissent and repression in the Middle East to advance understanding of the prospects for democratization and globalization in the region. The research will analyze the processes through which the interaction of dissent and repression impact large-scale social transformations associated with democratization and globalization. The research team is multidisciplinary, advancing knowledge at the convergence of the disciplines of sociology, political science, and international relations. The PIs will develop research models that include dynamic and interactive processes in sociopolitical systems affected by extensive and often violent dissent and repression. While focusing on the Middle East, the project creates a general model that is applicable to other regions of the world. Methodologically, the project jointly analyzes qualitative and quantitative data to demonstrate how dynamic models deal with major social transformations across time and space. Data catalogs will be compiled on five Middle Eastern countries--Egypt, Israel/Palestine, Jordan, Kuwait and Turkey--using already constructed data from the World Handbook IV and new data from Agence France Preesse, the world's second largest international newswire service. The later provides detailed identities of actors and targets and map these events to specific locales.
Broader Impacts. This project will advance our understanding of the transformative changes associated with democratization and globalization in a strategic region of the world that has major implications for world order and development. It will provide a model for multi-method interdisciplinary social science research and provide important insights into prospects for democratization and globalization in the Middle East. The PIs will also create a database that integrates qualitative and quantitative data that will allow for the analysis of dynamic models of social transformation across time and space.
