Professor Sami Zemni is professor in political and social sciences at the Center for Third World Studies, Ghent University, Belgium. He coordinates and leads the Middle East and North Africa Research Group. His area of expertise is politics within the Middle East and North Africa region, with special reference to political Islam. He focuses mainly on developments in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, democratization in the Arab World as well as  conflict in the Arab world. He also writes on issues of migration, integration, racism and Islamophobia. Keywords: political change (Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco,…), conflict and contentious politics in the Arab world, social movements, Islamophobia , multiculturalism and racism, political theory & philosophy.

My research is centered around the broader question of political change in the Arab World, more specifically Morocco, in relation to globalization, neoliberal urbanization and capitalist uneven development. I recently finished my PhD on Morocco (title: Urban politics in Morocco: Uneven development, neoliberal government and the restructuring of state power). This project looked at the Moroccan city (case studies were Rabat and Casablanca) as a political project, an urban neoliberal project in which public authorities participated in an attempt to prioritize the exchange value of the city (centred around the question: how can we sell the city?), over and above the use value of the city (which should mean how can we make the best possible city for our citizens?). More specifically, I studied two cases of urban politics that exemplified this political project and the conditions of urban uneven development as a result of this project. First of all, I looked at different techniques and methods to govern slums. Secondly, I looked at the impact of urban mega-projects. Furthermore, I am interested in various topics such as state reformation and state theory, capitalist urbanization and question of ‘the right to the city’, social movements and the question of resistance, critical theory and political geography. Keywords: Middle East politics, Morocco and North Africa, (actually existing) neoliberalism, neoliberal governmentality, bio-politics, new state spaces, class struggle and social protest, crtical theory and political philosophy

Institutions and conflict/collective action; globalization and the Realignment of politics; network (relational) perspectives on power and change; theory and method of social research; the sociology of knowledge; political philosophy; Middle East politics and society.

Immigrant transnationalism, Turkey, political and identity struggle of the Kurds in Europe, Turkey and the Middle-East.

Research topic: Decentralization policy, scalar transformation, political-economy reform and democratization, Urbanization, Lebanon and Jordan Other topics: Regionalization, urban transformation and political ecology

General Academic Interests: Islamic liberation theology; politicization of Islam; social semiotics of Islam; social movements, organised labour & class struggle in Egypt and the Middle East in general; Islam and Marxism; leftist politics in Egypt; contemporary history of Iran; Iranian Revolution; religion, identity and social struggle

Religion and (international) political mobilization, political islam / christianity in sub-Saharan Africa, inter-religious relations and politics, religion and development, conflict in sub-Saharan Africa

I am interested in the emerging forms of urban and regional governance in Turkey. To study this subject in a more detailed context, I analyze the functioning of the two main agents of urban and regional governance, namely the Housing Development Administration (TOKI) and the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). This analysis is based upon a systematic literature review and two specific case studies conducted by in-depth interviews. The research project offers a revised understanding of state power in governance systems and is intended for everyone who wishes to know more about politics in contemporary Turkey. Keywords: modern Turkey, urban governance, regional development, TOKI, state restructuring

Keywords: Palestine/Israel, political economy of assisted reproduction, settler colonialism, sexual politics of empire, biopolitics and bio-economy, biological citizenship, gender, feminism.

Keywords: geographies of neoliberalism, path-dependent/contradictory outcomes of neoliberalism, Beirut, Marseille, Mediterranean region, political economy of Lebanon, urban politics, globalization.