World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies

Barcelona, July 19th - 24th 2010

· NOT_DEFINED date: FRI 23, 11.30 am-1.30 pm

· NOT_DEFINED language: English / Français

· NOT_DEFINED description:

Paper presenter: Mimoun Attaheri (Professeur, Faculté Pluridisciplinaire Nador/Maroc), “Les sociétés arabes du Proche-Orient face a la mondialisation culturelle»
Comme toutes les sociétés contemporaines, celles du Proche-Orient se trouvent -aujourd’hui - confrontées aux défis multiples de la mondialisation, cette dernière entendue ici dans tous ses aspects: politique, économique et bien entendu culturel. Face à ces changements considérables et sans précédent, les sociétés arabes du Proche-Orient longtemps coupées du reste du monde (pour diverses raisons), découvrent avec la mondialisation culturelle –qui nous intéresse ici- des modes de vie, de pensée et de consommation nouveaux et étrangers a la culture arabo-musulmane. Et si ce processus d’acculturation n’est pas totalement nouveau, il connaîtra néanmoins avec la globalisation un tournant majeur. La réception de la télévision par satellite ; l’accès plus ou moins contrôlé au réseau internet ainsi que les mouvements d’immigration rendent accessibles les « biens culturels » de la planète a de larges secteurs de ces sociétés. Pour faire face a la mondialisation culturelle, les avis divergent entre les différentes élites de ces sociétés. Grosso modo on peut parler de trois parties : la première (majoritaire) s’oppose farouchement au volet culturel de la globalisation au nom de la défense des valeurs culturelles islamiques ; la deuxième (minoritaire) est favorable aux flux culturels facilités par la mondialisation .Quant à la troisième tendance, elle est moins marquée idéologiquement: elle est pour un comportement sélectif vis-à-vis de la mondialisation culturelle (on prend le positif non con traire aux valeurs locales).
En ce qui concerne mon travail, je voudrais aborder dans mon papier les problèmes et les défis que pose la mondialisation culturelle aux sociétés du Sud en général et a celles du Proche-Orient en particulier. Et je voudrais prendre comme exemples les sociétés du Golfe arabo-persique confrontées aux effets de la globalisation dans son volet culturel. Le papier se propose de traiter deux aspects de cette mondialisation culturelle : le premier à trait aux défis posés à la langue arabe par les langues étrangères dans les différents domaines d’activité ; le deuxième concerne les changements affectant le statut et la place de la femme dans ces sociétés du fait des flux culturels véhiculés par la mondialisation.
Le papier tentera de démontrer que malgré l’existence- au sein de ces sociétés- d’une forte opposition à cette mondialisation et aux biens culturels qu’elle transmet, et notamment dans le domaine linguistique et dans celui concernant la femme, il essayera de démontrer que les effets sont bel et bien réels pour ces sociétés et que les acteurs opposés adoptent une attitude de défense et de résignation. Et on verra comment certains mouvements islamistes, loin de stigmatiser en bloc les effets de cette mondialisation, appellent les adeptes à tirer profit de cette tendance. Pour mener à bien cette recherche, on fera recours aux discours de ces acteurs pour les analyser et en souligner les logiques et les stratégies.

Paper presenter: Zahra Ahmadypor (Associate professor, Tarbiat Modares University), «The challenges Of The Islamic World in The Globalization”
With the collapse of bipolar structures of the world and the end of the cold war between the powerful countries i.e. USA and USSR, the issue of globalization has been seriously proposed and found an especial position in the discussions related to politics, international relationships, Geopolitics, and sociology. Globalization is to establish a homogenized world with the sovereignty of an especial model as regards economic, cultural, political. And social aspects with the centrality of western liberal democracy. For this end, in order to expand this phenomenon, the powerful countries use different tools to propagate it one of the most important of them is cyber space. With fast communication facilities, cyber space passes the geographical boundaries and finds its developing position among different Societies with the promotion of culture that they want. Meanwhile, Islam as an independent cultural-historical identity perceives globalization as a challenge and tries to prevent its effects on its Societies. By adoption an analytics-descriptive model, and using internet and library resources, this study aims to investigate and clarify different aspects of globalization, and the effects of cyber space as its main tool on Islam world from a Geopolitics perspective. Therefore, the main question of this study is what have been the effects of globalization on the culture of Islam world. Keywords: Globalization- Cyber Space- Islam World- Culture and Geopolitics.

Paper presenter: Mohammad Taghi Ghezelsofla & Houri Jahanshahrad (Academics, Mazandaran University of Iran & Monash University of Australia), “Localization in the Middle East: A Reaction to Globalization”
The Middle East is regarded as a heterogeneous region in terms of its political and cultural circumstances. On the other hand, Middle East is among those regions heavily influenced by global evolution. Due to the particular geopolitical situation of the Middle East, this region is also exposed to the clash of a variety of approaches and ideas. Over the 20th century, modernity along with the physical presence of Western countries in this region has been one of the salient issues which have brought about various challenges among the elite and also the population of the Middle East.
As a result of the development of the idea of modernity and with reference to the issue of globalization, which has increasingly assumed importance in the contemporary world, the trend of localization, as a symbol of the protest to the socio-political and cultural influence of the West, has intensified in the region during the last decades. The origins of the idea of localization lay in the thoughts of philosophers and political elites of the Middle East in the late 19th century. Iran, Egypt and Turkey are among the most important Middle Eastern countries which have been, to different degrees, influenced by the evolution created by modern knowledge and modern reason as the manifestations of modernity. These countries viewed the West as a mirror for the socio-political and economic future of their nations and sought to reform their socio-political and economic systems which suffered from serious flaws. Due to the development of the idea of globalization and modernity, however, the trend of localization has been developing in this region as a reaction to the issue of Westernization. In addition to the growth of the idea of localization among the intellectuals of the Middle East, nevertheless, there have been inclinations towards the idea of Westernization and hybridization in the realm of political thought of the Middle Eastern thinkers. Owing to the importance of the trend of localization in the Middle East, the focus of this essay will be placed on the examination of three important localization trends in Iran, Egypt and Turkey in face of modernity and globalization. In the first section of this essay, after explaining the phenomenon of globalization, the question of localization in the region will be studied. In the second section, the contradictions of the idea of localization against the development of modernity will be examined. With reference to the internal contradictions and due to the contemporary circumstances of the world, the authors of this essay are of the opinion that the trends of localization in this region will ultimately reach an impasse. Finally, some solutions will be set forth in terms of the existing conflicts and possibilities in order to break the stalemate of the idea of localization in the region. This essay will be written in a descriptive and analytical method and employ the normative and critical approach to examine its hypothesis.
Keywords: Middle East, Culture, Politics, Globalization, Modernity, Localization

Paper presenter: Mouhcine Tallaki (PhD student, Faculty of economics of the Università degli Studi di Ferrara), “Culture and systems of management control in the Mediterranean”
The Mediterranean basin is one of the most important areas that made decisive steps to start a cooperation. The result of this cooperation was establish, at the Barcelona process in 1995, the birth of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership which aims to create of a free trade area in the Mediterranean and to go beyond the bilateral relations developed at the time of colonialism. The partnership represents an opportunity, especially for companies in the Mediterranean, not only for trade but also for the internationalization of production where the companies operate in a different environment. Many studies have shown that the companies are connected with economic, social and cultural context in which they were started and developed. Every company tries to adapt to the external environment and establishes with witch a complementary relationship where the man has a central role. The adaptation to the external environment is not naturally because the people that define and implement it, this explains the centrality of man in the relationship between the firm and the external environment, consequently the centrality of man in the in defining the objectives and procedures for control and attaining it. The actions of individuals are not a fait accompli in an isolated world but are the result of how their brain or the cognitive process is influenced by culture and beliefs, from this we can identify a direct relationship between the management and human culture in general. latter is divided in two cultures, the first is the individual culture (hard to measure) and the second is the national culture (composed of the values shared by all members of the country).Among of problems that can be found in the process of the internationalization of business in the Mediterranean area is relating to systems of management and control, the companies are forced to adapt their systems of accounting control to the national culture to avoid unnecessary costs and to be successful. In the Mediterranean we can identify different cultures. The paper aims to study how the different cultures setting impact systems of management control. In other words aims to develop a conceptual model to explain how the cultures existing in the Mediterranean area influence on the systems of management control giving perspective for the adaptation of these systems of control at cultural values existing in the Mediterranean area .

Paper presenter: Bryan Daves Asst. Professor, Yeshiva University), “Swimming against the Tide: Explaining Middle East Resistance to the Wave of Globalization”
Both proponents and critics of economic globalization share a premise rooted in price theory: Globalization has created a single international market that has made individual states price takers rather than price makers . This makes it difficult for individual states to pursue economic policies that are at odds with the economic logic of efficiency. Governments who violate this logic risk the loss of foreign capital, as investors search for countries with more hospitable investment climates, and risk the loss of markets for their exports, as their goods become too expensive to sell abroad. The governments of the Middle East and North Africa (with a few exceptions) have largely avoided making the reforms that would be consistent with economic efficiency. Indeed, on most measures of globalization-financial integration and trade: the Middle East remains second only to sub-Saharan Africa as the least globalized region in the world. Instead, many states have relied upon familiar policy measures: trying to increase their access to strategic rents or exporting their labor. The implications are significant: The region has neither been able to effectively sell its goods abroad, nor has the Middle East been a favored destination for Foreign Direct Investment. Chart 1 provides an illustration of this problem in terms of Exports and Chart 2 illustrates the problem for Foreign Direct Investment. The reason for this poor performance may be tied to policies adopted by governments in region. Middle Eastern countries have maintained high tariff rates, and they have made it difficult for investors by placing barriers to foreign investment. This has occurred in the Middle East while other regions of the world have increased the volume of trade and investment flows. Why has the Middle East remained on the outside this trend of more open markets for trade and capital flows? Why have governments continued to sell their strategic importance to gain access to rents or continued to export some of their best labor talent. This paper examines both the domestic and international political factors that have made it possible for governments of the region to resist the international pressures to liberalize, and to instead sell their strategic position. Specifically, it focuses on the interests of the incumbent rulers of the region, and how changing international conditions are impacted by domestic political institutions and the imperative of political survival. I argue that where domestic political institutions make changing political coalitions difficult. and when opening up a country’s market to the world economy disproportionately harms the interests of supporters of the incumbent ruler, the policy response will be to move slowly on liberalization of trade and investment regimes. In this case, incumbent rulers will try to exploit a country’s strategic position to extract greater rents, or they will try to expand their ability to export labor. This, I will argue, has been the case for many of the countries in the Middle East. The findings will suggest that international pressures for efficiency may represent a necessary condition for reform, but they are only made sufficient with the addition of the importance of political survival. The Middle East, then, becomes a crucial case, because despite international pressure to liberalize, governments in the region have resisted this trend because of domestic political concerns. Thus many of the assumptions of globalization need to be re-evaluated in order to place greater importance on domestic politics. Moreover, this study will further our understanding of how a region that at one time was the center of trade and commerce is now able to swim against the tide of globalization that is washing over much of the rest of the world.