This lecture focuses on the notion of knowledge production in the Arab world in the last decade. It contributes to the debate about how scholarship in the Arab region has struggled with some dichotomies before being able to partially transcend them. The author presents different research trends that have evolved from mainstream critical “glocal” (global/local) trends to the more polarized ones of postcolonial and Islamic perspectives. Professor Hanafi highlights differences between the trends that existed or evolved previous to and immediately following the 2011 Arab uprisings—cognitively inspired movements that were induced by paradigm shifts in the Arab social sciences.

Bio: Professor Sari Hanafi is currently a Professor of Sociology at the American University of Beirut and Chair of the Islamic Studies program.  He is the President of the International Sociological Association. Recently he created the “Portal for Social impact of scientific research in/on the Arab World” (Athar). He was the Vice President of the board of the Arab Council of Social Science. He is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters on the sociology of religion, sociology of (forced) migration; politics of scientific research; civil society, elite formation and transitional justice. He is as well editor of Idafat: the Arab Journal of Sociology (Arabic) Among his recent books are: Knowledge Production in the Arab World: The Impossible Promise. (with R. Arvanitis). He is the winner of 2014 Abdelhamid Shouman Award and 2015 Kuwait Award for social science. In 2019, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor Honoris Causa) of the National University of San Marcos (the first and the leading university in Lima- Peru – established in 1551).