Project description
Understanding development ideas among Yemen’s Islamists in exile
What is the relevance of EU economic development policies to the unique conceptual, political, and structural factors of Middle Eastern societies? Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the DEVELOP-MENTALITIES project examines Islamic and Islamist views on the state, society, and economics in Yemen. The project will contrast divergent development ideas among Yemen’s Islamists-in-exile, compared with those of Western donors and use a unique methodology combining oral history, ethnography, economics, and politics. The project will contribute to Yemen’s history since 2011, enrich our understanding of MENA geopolitics, and highlight the intersectionality between Western development theory and practice. It aims to make a tangible contribution to the EU’s current efforts to move beyond humanitarian aid and toward economic development policy.
Objective
"How applicable are economic development models, approaches, and policies of the EU to the ideational, political, and structural conditions of Middle Eastern societies? This project provides answers to this question by examining Islamic and Islamist views on state, society, and economics in Yemen the poorest country in the MENA region. The project contrasts divergent ideas of development among Yemens Islamists-in-exile, focusing on the Houthis, the Salafis, and members of al-Islah living in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates 8UA), and Oman, comparing local ""develop-mentalities"" with those prevailing among Western donors. It leverages the momentum of the slowdown of hostilities enabled by the recent Iran-Saudi deal, and the ongoing Saudi-Houthi negotiations, through an innovative methodology that combines concepts and approaches from Oral History, ethnography, economics, and politics. Academically, the project breaks new ground in the field of Islamic and Islamist economics by enriching our understanding of how political actors in the Global South think about state, modernity, globalization, and capitalism. It thereby contributes to Yemens history since 2011 while enriching our understanding of MENA geopolitics with new subaltern perspectives of the southern Arabian Peninsula. It further sheds light on the intersectionality between the epistemic universes of Western development theory and practice, and its applicability and receptivity in a complex, war-torn society that is dominated by tribalism and power politics. The secondary objective is to make a tangible contribution to the EUs current efforts to transition beyond humanitarian, and towards economic, forms of development policy. By creating an unofficial line of communication between Yemen's Islamists and EEAS officials, the project intends to yield pragmatic and actionable policy outcomes while adding a critical, but constructive, perspective on the EUs current development efforts in Yemen."
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- humanitieshistory and archaeologyhistory
- social sciencespolitical sciencespolitical transitions
- social sciencessociologyglobalization
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Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
30123 Venezia
Italy