Dartmouth Events

Hezbollah: Is Hezbollah Popular? Localities and Transnational Religious Politics

Hezbollah: Is Hezbollah Popular? Localities and Transnational Religious Politics - Augustus Richard Norton

Tuesday, October 16, 2012
4:30pm – 6:00pm
041 Haldeman Center, Kreindler Conference Center
Intended Audience(s): Public
Categories:
For two decades the Lebanese Shi.i group Hezbollah achieved unrivalled salience in Lebanese politics. Although Iran.s support cannot be overlooked, this talk explores the local bases for Hezbollah.s popularity, including the worldview and narrative that it espouses, and the extent to which its popularity stems from instrumental support (people, mostly Shi.a, lending support in return for services). In addition, the transnational currents that affect Hezbollah are examined, including the influence of rival Shi.i religious institutions and contending models for political change.

BIO: Augustus Richard Norton is a Professor in the Departments of International Relations and Anthropology at Boston University, where he is also the Director of the Institute for Iraqi Studies. He is also Visiting Professor in the Politics of the Middle East at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Prior to joining the Boston University faculty in 1993, he was a professor at West Point, the U.S. Military Academy, where he taught for a dozen years. His books include Hezbollah: A Short History (Princeton University Press, 2007, 2009), Civil Society in the Middle East, as editor (E. J. Brill, 2 vols., 1995, 1996, 2005), and Amal and the Shi'a (University of Texas Press, 1987). His recent publications include: .Lebanon and the Syria Crisis,. in E-International Relations; .Middle East Realignment: The Arab Upheaval,. published by the Foreign Policy Association in 2012, download PDF at goo.gl/5Tmdg ; and .Arab Revolts Upend Old Assumptions,. Current History, January 2012, download PDF at goo.gl/6EcLk . Dr. Norton received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

For more information, contact:
Dickey Center for International Understanding
603-646-2023

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.