Dr. Joseph Al Agha
Professor in Political Science & Intercultural Studies
Department of Political Science
Office: MEH 706
Tel. ext.: 327
joseph.alagha@haigazian.edu.lb
BIO
Prof. Dr. Joseph Alagha teaches Political Science, Sociology, and Intercultural Studies. Employing the interdisciplinary social sciences and humanities approach (SSH), Alagha published four peer-reviewed university press books, two monographs, three books in Arabic, and more than one hundred fifty refereed publications (mostly Journal Articles, but also Festschriften/Book Chapters; Review essays, academic Book Reviews, Commentaries, Scientific Reports and Policy Briefs) in four languages: English, Dutch, French, and Arabic, but mostly in English. Alagha is a member of https://criticalsocialtheory.com/members/ and is on the International Board of Advisors of https://www.asiainglobalaffairs.in/international-board-of-advisors/.
In brief, as attested by his multidisciplinary publications, Alagha is a subject-matter expert (SME) in four disciplines: (1) Critical Social Theory (Socio-political & cultural theory); (2) Contemporary Islamic Movements: Islamism & post-Islamism; (3) Performance Activism in the Middle East; and (4) Gender-based Violence & Human Rights, especially marital captivity. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8940-6194
Alagha is academic reviewer for Syracuse UP, Stanford UP, Edinburgh UP, Routledge (Middle East Studies), The Aga Khan University (Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations), Roman & Littlefield, Palgrave Macmillan, & many referred journals such as: Sage’s Contemporary Review of the Middle East; Springer’s Performing Islam; Cambridge’s Politics and Religion; Taylor & Francis Terrorism and Political Violence, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations Journal (ICMR), & Civil Wars; The Middle East Journal (Middle East Institute, Washington D.C.); Sage’s Journal of Historical Sociology, etc.
TEACHING INTERESTS
Socio-political & cultural theory
Intercultural Studies
Political Theory, International Relations, & Comparative Politics
Contemporary Islamic movements
Sociology of the Arab & Islamicate World
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Critical Social Theory
Minorities in the Middle East
Family law, Gender, & violence against women
Islam and popular culture
The performing arts
Philosophy of art and aesthetics
Political mobilization
Islamic movements
Democratization and liberalization processes in the MENA
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
–“Indigenous Critical Social Theory”, Philippines Sociological Review, Volume 70.1 (Fall 2023): 1-20. ISSN 00317810.
-“The Lebanese Revolution and the Shi‘i Axis of Resistance”, in: Political Faultlines in the Middle East. Edited by Kingshuk Chatterjee. London: Routledge, 2023, 47-97. Subject: Area Studies, 228 pp; eBook ISBN 9781003400189. DOI https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003400189
– “Humour, Jihad Al-Tabyyin and Performance Activism in Lebanon”, The Maghreb Review: A quarterly journal on the Maghreb, the Middle East, Africa and Islamic studies 48.2 (2023): 182-202. ISSN 0309 457X. (London, UK).
– Chapter 9: “Lebanon’s 17 October Revolution, WhatsApp and Mass Mobilization”, in: Politics of Change in Middle East and North Africa since Arab Spring: A Lost Decade? M. Quamar (ed.). London: Routledge, 2023, 152-165. ISBN 9781032430133 | 316pp.
–With Mostafa Soueid, Chapter 11: “Colonialism and Modernity”, in: Syed Hussein Alatas and Critical Social Theory: Decolonizing the Captive Mind. Edited by Dustin J. Byrd & Seyed Javad Miri. Leiden: Brill, 2023, 246-260. DOI:10.1163/9789004521698-013. Series: Studies in Critical Social Sciences, Volume: 233. ISBN: 978-90-04-52168-1; e-ISBN: 978-90-04-52169-8
-Chapter 8: “The ‘Spring’ in Lebanon: Demands for Reform & Ending Corruption”, in: The Arab Spring: Ten Years On. S. Ashwarya & M. Alam (eds.). Gerlach Press: Berlin & London, 2022, 123-142. ISBN-10: 3959941587; ISBN-13: 978-3959941587. | 206 pp.
– “Ali Shari‘ati: Liberation Theology, Social Justice, & Humanism”, Islamic Perspective: Journal of Islamic Studies and Humanities. ISSN 2046-8946. The Institute for Critical Social Theory, Olivet, MI, USA, Volume 28, (Winter 2022): 51-71.
– “Al-Nazariyya al-Ijtima‘iyya al-Islamiyya (النظرية الاجتماعية الإسلامية)”, Idafat: the Arab Journal of Sociology (إضافات- المجلة العربية لعلم الاجتماع), Edited by Sari Hanafi, President, International Sociological Association, 55-56 (Summer-Fall 2022): 86-102. ISSN: 23067128 الجمعية العربية لعلم الاجتماع بالتعاون مع مركز دراسات الوحدة العربية
– Chapter 8: “Humour and Islamic Fundamentalism: Political Satire, Comedy, and Revolutionary Theatre”, in: Muslims and Humour: Essays on Comedy, Joking, and Mirth in Contemporary Islamic Contexts. Edited by Bernard Schweizer and Lina Molokotos-Liederman. Bristol: Bristol University Press, 2022, 177-200.
-“Lebanon’s Faulty Governance and Elitist Political Participation”, The Maghreb Review: A quarterly journal on the Maghreb, the Middle East, Africa and Islamic studies 46.3 (2021): 339-353. ISSN 0309 457X. (London, UK). (Publication date: 21 July 2021).
-“Post-Islamist Trends in the Performing Arts”, Religions 2020, 11, 645 (1-12). (Basel, Switzerland). (Publication date: 2 December 2020).
-With Nadia Sonneveld, Chapter 23: “Why his Photograph was not Taken: Reconsidering Membership in Lebanon,” in: The Routledge Handbook of Citizenship in the Middle East and North Africa. (Reference Work). Edited by Roel Meijer (Radboud University Nijmegen), Zahra Babar (Georgetown University), & James Sater (University of Malta). London: Routledge, 2020, 336-348. ISBN-13: 978-0367178932.
– “Lebanese Street Politics: Popular Insurrection & Public Squares”, Islamic Perspective: Journal of Islamic Studies and Humanities. Centre for Sociological Studies. In Cooperation with the London Academy of Iranian Studies (LAIS), Volume 23, (Spring 2020): 73-95. ISSN 1471-3217.
-“De rol van vrouwen in de Libanese opstand [The Role of Women in the Lebanese Uprising].” ZemZem: Tijdschrift over het Midden-Oosten, Noord-Afrika en islam [ZemZem: Journal of the Middle East, North Africa and Islam] (Gender en seksualiteit: Special issue on Gender and Sexuality) 16.1 (June 2020): 128-138. ISSN 1574-6577.
– “Marital Captivity & Violence: A Human Rights Perspective”, in: Marital Captivity: Divorce, Religion and Human Rights. The Hague: Eleven International Publishing, 2019, 175-192.
– Avec Didier LeRoy «Les Femmes Kamikazes: islamité et masculinité en question», Revue Moyen-Orient 43 (Julliet-Septembre 2019): 76-81.
– “Case Studies of Temporary Marriages in Lebanon”, The Maghreb Review: A quarterly journal on the Maghreb, the Middle East, Africa and Islamic studies 44.4 (2019): 521-552.
– “Jihadi Women: Social Movements & Collective Action”, Islamic Perspective: Journal of Islamic Studies and Humanities. Centre for Sociological Studies. In Cooperation with the London Academy of Iranian Studies (LAIS), Volume 19, Spring 2018: 59-82.
– “Ibn Khaldun: A Sociology of History,” International Sociology Reviews 32.2 (1 March 2017): 180-188.
-“Shi‘a discourses on Performing Arts: Maslaha and Cultural Politics in Lebanon”, in: Islam and Popular Culture, edited by Mark LeVine, Martin Stokes, and Karin van Nieuwkerk. Austin: University of Texas Press, 171-188, 2016.
– “Moderation and Performing Arts in Contemporary Muslim Societies,” American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 32 (3), 2015: 44-68.
– “Al-Farabi’s Political Philosophy and Shi‘ism,” The Maghreb Review 40 (3), 2015: 319-355.
– “G Al-Banna’s and A Fadlallah’s views on Dancing,” Sociology of Islam 2 (1-2), 2014: 60-86.
– Grootayatollah Fadlallahs boodschap aan de Nederlandse moslims: ‘Integratie is een religieuze plicht’ [Ayatullah Fadlallah’s Message to the Dutch Muslims: ‘Integration is a religious duty’]. Tijdschrift voor Religie, Recht en Beleid (TRRB) [Journal for Religion, Law and Policy] 3.1 (2012): 41-55.
-“Jihad through Music,” Performing Islam 1.2 (2012): 263-289.
-“De toekomst van de christenen in Libanon in het licht van de Arabische Lente [The Future of the Christians in Lebanon in Light of the Arab Spring],” Begrip Moslims Christenen [(Journal of) Christian-Muslim Understanding] 38.3 (2012): 114-120.
– «Fatah al-Islam: ennemi idéologique du Hezbollah au Liban», in: Mouvements islamistes et Politique, edited by Firouzeh Nahavandi. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2009, 163-174; 207-210.
– «Les services sociaux de Hezbollah: Effort de guerre, ethos religieux et ressources politiques», in: Le Hezbollah: État Des Lieux, edited by Sabrina Mervin. Paris: Actes Sud, 2008, 117-140.
-« Puissance Douce et les Arts de la Scène au Moyen-Orient. » in «Peuples méditerranéens» https://peuplesmonde.net/2017/05/03/puissance-douce-et-les-arts-de-la-scene-au-moyen-orient-par-joseph-alagha/
ACADEMIC DEGREES
Ph.D., Free University of Amsterdam
M.Phil., Leiden University, the Netherlands