Jeannie Sowers, Assistant Professor of Political Science, travels to Italy

Professor Jeannie Sowers traveled to Italy this spring to present a paper at the European Union Institute workshop on Transnationalism in the Middle East

Jeannie Sowers Associate Professor of Political Science travels to Egypt

Professor Sowers travelled to Egypt in February 2013 to continue her research on environmental issues and politics and to learn more about the ongoing political revolution that began in January 2011.With the assistance of a CIE travel grant funded by the Yale-Maria bequest for Middle East Studies, I was able to spend twelve days in Cairo during February 2013. I returned to Egypt, where I have been conducting research on environmental issues and politics for some time, to learn more about the ongoing political revolution that began in January 2011. Specifically, I was interested in debates over the controversial constitution that had just been passed through a referendum, which many people boycotted in protest. I talked with a people from a variety of political perspectives and parties about what the new constitution and ongoing revolution means to Egyptian

Climate-induced Migration in the MENA Region: Results from the Qualitative Fieldwork

This chapter is based on qualitative focus group and in-depth interview data collected among rural residents and urban migrants in the five focus countries for this study. The chapter documents the relationship between climate change and internal human mobility as seen by the population, as well as some of the other adaptation strategies used by households to cope with a deteriorating climate. Rural residents are clearly aware of climate change. They perceive a shift in climactic conditions that affects their livelihood due to deteriorating agricultural conditions. Among households affected by climate change, migration appears to be more of a strategy of last resort than of first resort, although there are exceptions. For those who migrate to urban areas, obtaining a job as well as a proper dwelling is hard and further hindered by corruption and competition for limited employment opportunities. The obligation to send remittances also puts pressure on migrants. Yet, despite difficulties and pressures, the perceived benefits of migration in terms of the independence and opportunities afforded by urban life remain substantial

The Politics of Assessment: Water and Sanitation MDGs in the Middle East

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is generally considered to be making adequate progress towards meeting Target 10 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which calls for halving the proportion of the population with inadequate access to drinking water and sanitation. Progress towards achieving Target 10 is evaluated by the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), run by UNICEF and WHO. This article shows that the assessment methodologies employed by the JMP significantly overstate coverage rates in the drinking water and sanitation sectors, by overlooking and ‘not counting’ problems of access, affordability, quality of service and pollution. The authors show that states in MENA often fail to provide safe drinking water and adequate sanitation services, particularly in densely populated informal settlements, and that many centralized water and sanitation infrastructures contribute to water pollution and contamination. Despite the glaring gap between the MDG statistics and the evidence available from national and local reports, exclusionary political regimes in the region have had few incentives to adopt more accurate assessments and improve the quality of service. While international organizations have proposed some reforms, they too lack incentives to employ adequate measures that gauge access, quality and affordability of drinking water and sanitation services

The Journey to Tahrir: Revolution, Protest and Social Change in Egypt

Presents a collection of essays which examines the Egyptian social and political forces which resulted in the overthrow of Hosni Mubarack and the coalition of reform groups who hope to establish a democratic, representative government