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The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies launched its Social Sciences and Humanities Conference on 11 March 2023, with the theme of this year’s event centred on the topic of political culture. Opening the conference, the General Director of the ACRPS and Chair of the Doha Institute Board of Trustees, Azmi Bishara, presented his lecture titled, “Remarks on Political Culture.”

The first panel kicked off with Abdelwahab El-Affendi presenting his paper “Culture as a Weapon: Culture Wars in the United States and Egypt”, in which he discussed the implications of culture wars for matters of identity and political affairs for Egypt and the US. ACRPS Researcher Abdelfattah Mady presented his paper next, “How Does Despotism Shape the Political Culture of the Masses? A Civil-Military Relations Approach,” analysing the repercussions of the policy of sectarian indoctrination on the political culture of the masses.

Tunisian researcher Asma Eliheouel introduced the second session with her paper “Political Culture and Democratic Transition: A Study of Tunisian Political Parties 2011-2019” followed by Law Professor, Chaker Houki, and his paper, “Political Culture and Democratic Transition.”

The third panel was devoted to political culture in Egypt. Cultural Anthropology Professor, Ahmed Abouelella began with his paper, ”The Political Culture of the Nubian Youth in Egypt:  A Case Study of the Return Movement,” followed by Ali Raouf who presented “The Ruling Authoritarian Political Culture and Spatial Identity: A Historical Approach from early Modernity to the Contemporary Era in the Egyptian City”. Finally, Hany Awad rounded off the panel with “Transformations of Formal-Informal Institutional Relations and the Rise of Populist Presidents in Egypt”.

The fourth panel was set in motion with a presentation by Brahim El Morchid, El Houcine Chougrani  and Brahim Mansouri on their paper “Towards Building an Index for Measuring Political Culture in Arab countries: Political Science Methodology”. The next speaker, Said El Hajji presented “Consensus in the Culture of the Moroccan Political Elite: On the Relationship between the Determinants of Consensus and Democratic Transition in Morocco”, followed by the final presentation of the day, “Culture and Democratic Transition: The Culture of Politcial Elites and the Reproduction of Authoritarianism in Morocco”, by Abdelilah Es Satte.

The conference continues until Monday, 13 March, when the Arab Prize for research in the social sciences and humanities is awarded.