Michael Walzer will be at LUISS on May 7 at 4 p.m. to give a talk on the Arab Spring and to ask whether a democratic revolution and a religious revival can coexist.
Professor Walzer, one of the world’s most distinguished political theorists and professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, has written extensively about war, nationalism and ethics. He has published 27 books, including Just and Unjust Wars and On Toleration, and is a co-editor of Dissent, a quarterly journal on politics and culture.
One of his most recent articles, After the Arab Spring, analyzes several historical instances where politics and religion converged, in order to better contextualize the Arab Spring. This wave of populist uprisings in 2011 toppled many autocratic governments in the Middle East, but has not resolved the underlying political and economic issues facing the region. Egypt is plagued by instability, an unspeakably brutal war rages on in Syria, and Iran continues to be dominated by an authoritarian clerical elite. In short, the political landscape in the Muslim world is more complex and volatile than ever. So what role, then, does the revival of religion play within the struggle for more inclusive and egalitarian institutions?
The event is organized by the Centre for Ethics and Global Politics, in collaboration with the Department of Political Science, the LUISS School of Government and Reset – Dialogues on Civilizations.