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) 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 Stanford UP, Georgetown UP, Edinburgh UP, Routledge (Middle East Studies), The Aga Khan University (Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations), Roman & Littlefield, Palgrave Macmillan, and 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, Wiley’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 & Islamic 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

– “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).

-“The Lebanese Revolution and the Shi‘i Axis of Resistance”, in: Political Faultlines in the Middle East. Edited by Kingshuk Chatterjee. New Delhi: Centre for Studies in International Relations and Development (CSIRD) & KW Publishers, 2021, 47-97. (Publication date: 1 January 2021). ISBN: 978-93-89137-76-7; e-ISBN: 978-93-89137-77-4.

-“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