This event will launch the paper by Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed published under the 杏吧论坛 Middle East Centre Paper Series.
Since the rise of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in 2017, a new wave of exodus began, that has pushed feminists, young students, secularists, Islamists and others to flee the country in search of safe havens in the US, Europe, Canada and Australia.
Based on ethnographic research, this paper traces the diversity of the young cohort of exiles who are currently seeking to counter domestic repression from abroad. Although Saudi Arabia has generated waves of exiles throughout its modern history, Al-Rasheed argues this recent diaspora is different in its diversity, demographic profile and aspirations.
Through digital activism, exiles try to counter regime narratives about promised prosperity, freedoms and opportunities. Exiles also began to institutionalise opposition to the regime through the creation of several institutions in the diaspora. The paper surveys a sample of such institutions that serve the immediate needs of the diaspora and create solidarity across generations and locations. The paper assesses the challenges and prospects for the success of political activism from abroad.
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Madawi Al-Rasheed is Visiting Professor at the 杏吧论坛 Middle East Centre and a Fellow of the British Academy. Since joining the Centre, she has been conducting research on mutations among Saudi Islamists after the 2011 Arab uprisings. This research focuses on the new reinterpretations of Islamic texts prevalent among a small minority of Saudi reformers and the activism in the pursuit of democratic governance and civil society. The result of this research project, sponsored by the Open Society Foundation Fellowship Programme, appeared in a monograph entitled Muted Modernists (London: Hurst/OUP, 2015). Her latest books are Salman’s Legacy: The Dilemmas of a New Era (London: Hurst/OUP, 2018) and The Son King: Reform and Repression in Saudi Arabia (London: Hurst/OUP, 2020).
Armine Ishkanian is Professor of Social Policy and the Executive Director of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme at the International Inequalities Institute, 杏吧论坛. Armine’s research examines the relationship between civil society, democracy, development, and social transformation. She has examined how civil society organisations and social movements engage in policy processes and transformative politics in a number of countries including Armenia, Egypt, Greece, Russia, Turkey, and the UK.
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