Beyond the borders : the Mediterranean between cultures, migrations and life-world

André Elias Mazawi reviews 'Beyond the borders : the Mediterranean between cultures, migrations and life-world' edited by M. Benguerna and E. Mangone whose book resulted from a rich collaboration among sociologists of different nationalities and reflects on Mediterranean as a strategic element to overcome the current crisis in Europe, becoming an incentive for the review of European policies and providing a solid foundation for the growth of a true European cultural heritage and knowledge, then passing it on to future generations. This book represents an attempt to go beyond the “boundaries” and this means rethinking the current idea of Europe and of the Mediterranean. The knowledge and cultural values of the Mediterranean can be the driving force to overcome the impasse of which Europe cannot free itself. Therefore, while some chapters strive to formulate more general categories, others deal with the concrete situated reality.peer-reviewe

Dis/Integrated orders and the politics of recognition : civil upheavals, militarism, and educators' lives and work

Given the Arab region’s turbulent political and military histories, the virtual absence of studies that examine educators’ lives and work, when the socio-political order disintegrates or collapses, is striking. This paper has two aims: first, it calls for the articulation of new research horizons concerned with the ‘modes of being’ of educators as actors embedded within dynamic contexts of practice; second, it emphasises the need to articulate an ‘epistemology of seeing’ through which research on educators’ lives and work can recognise educational leadership as constructed within multi-faceted and conflict-ridden contexts.peer-reviewe

The Arab Spring: A Higher Education Revolution Yet to Happen

The essay reflects on the challenges facing reforms in the governance of higher education in the Arab region at the light of the current wave of mass popular contestation