Global Challenges
A series of lectures on current issues in world politics - every first Wednesday of the month
In this series of lectures experts will provide a broad perspective and qualified background information on these global challenges. Each first Wednesday of the month a new present-day issue takes center stage in this series.
This series is a co-production of Studium Generale and the Research Centre of Leiden University College.
In this lecture, the speaker outlines the distinctly counter-revolutionary functions of political trauma inflicted on young Egyptian activists. Drawing on testimonial research conducted with young Caireen activists, I will narrate how the counter-revolution (comprising of both the military and the Muslim Brotherhood leadership) inflicted grave physical and emotional violence on these activists, which crushed their assumptive world. Through a charting of Egypt’s counter-revolutionary developments from 2011, it will become clear that political trauma in Egypt is systematic and purposefully inflicted to crush social transformation and a collective pursuit of social justice. In doing so, this lecture will make the case for a greater understanding of the distinctly political dimensions of trauma. And it will explain that purposeful traumatisation will not result in “political stability”, an illusion not only frequently upheld by Abdel Fattah el Sisi’s authoritarian regime of the “Absurd” but also by foreign goverments happy to strike pragmatic deals with this regime. Hence, recognising Egypt’s political trauma also entails a direct call for greater political accountability not only of Egypt's government but also of our own.
Speaker and discussant
Dr Vivienne Matthies-Boon, Assistant Professor in the International Relations of the Middle East, coordinator of the Zeytun Exchange Programme with the Middle East, Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam
Discussant: to be announced
Time, Place, Venue
Note: Wednesday April 11
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Auditorium
Leiden University College
Anna van Buerenplein 301
The Hague
All welcome!
Entrance is free.
Limited seats available – please register in advance !
Space law is a relatively new field of law that emerged after the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched into outer space in 1957. A number of international legal instruments governing the use of outer space for peaceful purposes was adopted within the framework of the UN since the late 1960s. The increased use by public and private entities made outer space contested, congested and competitive. This meant that the law also had to evolve, leading to the adoption of multilateral cooperation agreements, international guidelines, and national legislation. Exciting new opportunities now loom on the horizon, such as space mining, private spaceflight, mega-constellations of small satellites, or settling on Mars. This talk will provide some background on the international law of outer space and give some insight into the legal challenges that lie ahead.
PowerPoint of the lecture
Speaker and discussant
Speaker: Dr Tanja Masson-Zwaan, Assistant Professor and Deputy Director of the International Institute of Air and Space Law, Leiden University
Time, Place, Venue
Wednesday May 2
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Auditorium
Leiden University College
Anna van Buerenplein 301
The Hague
All welcome!
Entrance is free.
Limited seats available – please register in advance !
