Youth And Education In The Middle East

"The uprisings that were seen throughout the Middle East during 2010 and 2011, make it difficult to over-state the role of educated youth in the region s politics. Daniele Cantini combines an analysis of young people in Jordan, of its relevance and of its perceived crisis, with one which looks at education and the pursuit of knowledge. He thereby highlights the unprecedented rise in youth population and the growth in institutions of higher learning as a way to explore and explain the challenges Arab-majority societies are currently facing. It proposes an understanding of the university as an institution integral to the survival of the regime, discusses its fragile reforms, and crucial in the formation of young people s social and political identities. Youth and Education in the Middle East, offers vital first-hand accounts of the role of educational institutions and the impact they have in shaping transnational and local constituencies as well as in the micropolitics of everyday life."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Wired Citizenship examines the evolving patterns of youth learning and activism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In today’s digital age, in which formal schooling often competes with the peer-driven outlets provided by social media, youth all over the globe have forged new models of civic engagement, rewriting the script of what it means to live in a democratic society. As a result, state-society relationships have shifted—never more clearly than in the MENA region, where recent uprisings were spurred by the mobilization of tech-savvy and politicized youth. Combining original research with a thorough exploration of theories of democracy, communications, and critical pedagogy, this edited collection describes how youth are performing citizenship, innovating systems of learning, and re-imagining the practices of activism in the information age. Recent case studies illustrate the context-specific effects of these revolutionary new forms of learning and social engagement in the MENA region.

The chapters in this volume do not represent the whole of the Middle East and North Africa, as such a collection would have been too large for one volume. Rather, the selection here is intended to present different perspectives on a range of educational issues, relevant to a particular focus or country, or common to a number of countries in the area. There is no overarching theme beyond that which is common to most of the countries in this area; such as modernity versus tradition; the spread of education effecting sociological changes - most pronounced in the rural and tribal areas; the changing fortunes and roles of women; the aspiration and expectation of youth; and the state having become the major player in providing education. These are all shared by most of the countries represented here.

Young people in the Middle East (15–29 years old) constitute about one-third of the region's population. Growth rates for this age group trail only sub-Saharan Africa. This presents the region with an historic opportunity to build a lasting foundation for prosperity by harnessing the full potential of its young population. Yet young people in the Middle East face severe economic and social exclusion due to substandard education, high unemployment, and poverty. Thus the inclusion of youth is the most critical development challenge facing the Middle East today. A Generation in Waiting portrays the plight of young people, urging greater investment designed to improve the lives of this critical group. It brings together perspectives from the Maghreb to the Levant. Each chapter addresses the complex challenges facing young people in many areas of their lives: access to decent education, opportunities for quality employment, availability of housing and credit, and transitioning to marriage and family formation. This volume presents policy implications and sets an agenda for economic development, creating a more hopeful future for this and future generations in the Middle East. Selected contributors include Ragui Assaad (University of Minnesota), Brahim Boudarbat (University of Montreal), Jad Chaaban (American University in Beirut), Nader Kabbani (Syria Trust for Development), Taher Kanaan (Jordan Center for Public Policy Research and Dialogue), Djavad Salehi-Isfahani (Wolfensohn Center for Development and Virginia Tech), and Edward Sayre (University of Southern Mississippi).

Wired Citizenship examines the evolving patterns of youth learning and activism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In today’s digital age, in which formal schooling often competes with the peer-driven outlets provided by social media, youth all over the globe have forged new models of civic engagement, rewriting the script of what it means to live in a democratic society. As a result, state-society relationships have shifted—never more clearly than in the MENA region, where recent uprisings were spurred by the mobilization of tech-savvy and politicized youth. Combining original research with a thorough exploration of theories of democracy, communications, and critical pedagogy, this edited collection describes how youth are performing citizenship, innovating systems of learning, and re-imagining the practices of activism in the information age. Recent case studies illustrate the context-specific effects of these revolutionary new forms of learning and social engagement in the MENA region.

As the analytical concept of youth gained importance, and was generally accepted as a period with its own cultural values and norms, social scientists began to analyze how social change was linked to youth. In the Middle East, a new concept of youth already began to find its way into the region in the late 19th century, and played a role in the anti-colonialist struggle. The same concept still plays a leading role today in the way young people act in relation to traditional values, political systems, and the West. In the Arab world in general, some 50% of the total population is 18 years of age or below, which means that youth as a social group is of growing importance in the area. This also means that for decades to come Middle Eastern governments will be challenged as their young citizens demand work, a place to live, and access to enjoyable and challenging activities for the ever-expanding leisure time embedded in a modern way of life. Drawing on extensive research, which covers a wide geographical area, this volume includes, among others, articles on: Youth, History and Change in the Modern Arab World; The Discovery of Adolescence in the Middle East; Discovering the Other: Arab/Jewish Youth Encounters in Arab Films; Youth, Moral and Islamism: Spending Leisure Time with Hamas in Palestine; The Construction of Youth in Public Discourse in Turkey: A Generational Approach; and, Youth Culture and Official State Discourse in Iran. Youth and Youth Cultures in the Contemporary Middle East is a comprehensive work which describes and analyzes the forms of youth culture presently being exposed throughout the contemporary Middle East. It will appeal not only to scholars, but also to those with a general interest in Middle Eastern culture.

This book uses the youth life stage as a window through which to view all domains of life in present-day Saudi Arabia: family life, education, the impact of new media, the labour market, religion and politics. The authors draw extensively on their interviews with 25-35 year olds, selected so as to represent the life chances of males and females who grow up in different socio-economic strata, and typically face different futures. The book presents an account of the ways in which family life, education, religion, employment and the housing regimes interlock, and how and why this interlocking is subject to increasing stresses. The chapters, which are built on documentary research, official published statistics and the authors’ original evidence, provide invaluable insights into Saudi youth, which has never before been examined in such depth. Youth in Saudi Arabia will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines including Sociology, Politics and Middle East Studies.

Though there is much discussion of the role of youth in recent upheavals in the Middle East, there are few serious analyses of just what that role has been. Haggai Erlich sheds important light on this topic, focusing on the activism of educated young people in creating revolutionary change and the part played by higher education in shaping new generations of youth. Moving from the nineteenth century to the present, Erlich considers why and how these successive generations ignited protest movements, undermined existing systems--and sometimes paved the way for a new order that ultimately excluded them. The result is both an intriguing look at recent history and a contribution to our understanding of the Middle East today.