To what extent do participatory civil society dynamics, rooted in self-assertive social capital, help explain the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011? How do pro-democratic Arab attitudes matter in promoting elite-challenging collective actions? Does Islam support or hinder elite-challenging, self-assertive social capital? To answer these questions, this study systematically examines the variation in self-assertive (emancipative) social capital in Egypt and Jordan from a comparative perspective. By using emancipative social capital theory, this article embarks on an individual-level quantitative analysis derived from the World Values Survey database to explore the empirical nexus between pro-democratic attitudes, elite-challenging actions, and Islamic values in order to partly explain comparatively high-intensive and persistent uprisings in Egypt and relatively low-intensive and less persistent demonstrations in Jordan. The findings offer critical insights in understanding the social capital dimension of the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 and contribute new clues about empirical interactions between Islamic resurgence and civil society dynamics in the Muslim world.

The case of the Ultras’ mobilisation and their subsequent demobilisation in the Egyptian revolutionary and post-revolutionary context raises the question of the relationship between the notion of contention and repression, which are questions that are at the centre of debates in the literature. Based on a thorough analysis of the Ultras groups’ collective actions, this dissertation aims at understanding the mobilisation and demobilisation mechanisms at play in revolutionary and post-revolutionary Egypt. Inspired by the literature of contentious collective action and the sociology of sport in various national contexts, we aim at answering the following question: how and in what ways did the Ultras adapt their tools and spaces of mobilisation to avoid state repression? This further prompted the question of the Ultras’ impact on the making of spaces of contention and the general capacity of football fandom to encourage mobilisation. The generalised context of surveillance and control encouraged the development of alternative means and spaces to avoid state repression. Among these alternatives means and spaces, were the stadium, as well as the Ultras’ street art and songs. By investing and (re)possessing these spaces, we show that the Ultras were able to transform a space into an area of conflict and contestation. In other words, these alternative means and spaces can be seen as a way for them to break away from the shackles of social and institutional norms to oppose the general “paradigm of depression, control and normalisation of apathy”. The return to authoritarianism and the coming to power of General Abdel Fattah al Sisi (since June 2013), however, drastically impacted on collective action, as the various groups witnessed the progressive destruction of the spaces of protest and memorialisation that had been developing since the onset of the uprisings. In this regard, we investigate the issue of the demobilisation of the Ultras groups and progressive effacement of spaces of contention. Looking back on the events of the 2011 uprisings and the subsequent 2013 uprisings against president Morsi and regime response, we establish that the general disappearance of protest is linked to the banalisation of violence, which instilled this idea that brutality was commonplace, almost inconsequential because a part of Egyptians’ daily lives. We conclude the dissertation by reflecting on the delocalisation of dissent through the collective act of remembrance. Indeed, the new laws on social media suggest additional efforts from the regime to contain and control political dissent, further contributing to the expansion of the concept of “tentacular state”. In this regard, the acts of remembrance can be understood as a way for the social actors to redefine their repertoires of collective action. Through the digitisation and subsequent dissemination of narratives, photos, videos and sounds, social actors such as the Ultras repossess new spaces of dissent and resistance beyond their physical borders. Ultimately, the power of digitisation and collective acts of remembrance lies in their capacity and potential to stimulate dissent, thus securing political effects. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

As of April 2019, there were over 650,000 Syrian refugees residing in Jordan. A combination of economic, social, and moral imperatives related to the Syrian civil war have led to a threefold increase in early marriage rates. Syrian women and girls, particularly those who marry under the age of 18, are at significant risk of sexual and gender-based violence and unwanted pregnancy. In this context, emergency contraception could play a significant role in supporting Syrian refugees prevent pregnancy. In 2016-2017 we conducted six focus group discussions with Syrian women and girls. We conducted 100 structured interviews with pharmacists in different areas of the country regarding EC provision practices. We also interviewed 13 key informants about available sexual and reproductive health services, including EC, and conducting six focus group discussions with Syrian child brides. We audio-recorded and translated all discussions from Arabic to English and conducted content and thematic analyses using deductive and inductive techniques. Most women and girls became pregnant during the first six months of their marriage, face pressure to become pregnant repeatedly, and experience or had experienced physical and sexual violence. None of the women knew of EC but all expressed curiosity and excitement about this method of pregnancy prevention. Our findings suggest that Syrian women and girls in early marriages have significant unmet contraceptive needs. Child brides, specifically those under the age of 15, reported rarely using any type of contraception, largely due to familial pressures to prove fertility. As a result of this research we undertook a multipronged initiative to respond to the sexual and reproductive health, as well as psychosocial needs, of Syrian child brides.

Atrial fibrillation, long QT syndrome, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome are three deadly human diseases for which genetic animal models are needed. From elucidating disease pathogenesis to facilitating the development of treatments, animal models are crucial for studying human disease. One of the most effective ways to generate specific animal models is through genetic modification. Historically, mice have been most widely used as genetically modified models, despite a number of limitations. New gene editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 have made developing alternative genetic models that better recapitulate some human diseases better and more feasible. In this thesis, I describe my efforts to develop genetically modified goat and hamster models for atrial fibrillation and long QT syndrome, and genetically modified hamster models for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. For long QT syndrome model development, I knocked out the KCNQ1 gene in goat fetal fibroblast cells and baby hamster kidney cells using the CRIPSR/Cas9 system. The knockout results in loss-of-function mutations, a known cause of human long QT syndrome. The edited goat fibroblast cells will be nuclear donors for future cloning experiments to produce live goats possessing the KCNQ1 knockout. The CRISPR gene targeting sgRNA/Cas9 vector, specific for the hamster KCNQ1, has been used for pronuclear injections to produce KCNQ1 knockout hamsters. For atrial fibrillation model development, I designed a single-stranded donor oligonucleotide that generates a KCNQ1 gainof-function mutation resulting in the disease. This oligonucleotide was injected into hamster embryos along with the KCNQ1 sgRNA/Cas9-expressing vector to generate hamsters containing the gain-of-function mutation. Finally, for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome model development, I established a breeding colony of human DPP4 transgenic hamsters in the STAT2 knockout background. Human DPP4 transgenic hamsters are susceptible to MERS-CoV infection, showing mild clinical signs and allowing viral replication in lung tissue. Giving these hamsters a STAT2 knockout background should promote a more severe disease progression. For all three diseases, the foundations for the development of genetic animal models have been laid.

This study explores the historical evolution of the water situation in Palestine at a local level in the West Bank village of Zababdeh. The thesis examines Palestine's geography and the historical relationship of Zababdeh's people with this environment. A sudden shift in this relationship took place during the second half of the 20th century, particularly after the advent of Israeli occupation. The thesis also addresses the Palestinians' involvement, or lack thereof, in water politics of the West Bank during the 20th century. The pattern of neglect has left Palestinians in a weak position to secure safe and reliable water supplies for villages like Zababdeh. Though some have speculated that the water situation in Palestine will one day lead to violent conflict, the example of Zababdeh's water history shows that such conflict has not yet occurred because the village's inhabitants experienced many new water-related conveniences under Israeli occupation. The new conveniences left Zababdeh's people relatively contented and without incentive to fight over water. The study finds that water is an underlying, and sometimes overt stress that has been exacerbating the conflict in Palestine for decades and will continue to foster instability in the region until the people of Palestine all have safe, consistent, and sufficient supplies of water for their needs.

The aim of the study was to investigate how the Swedish managerial leadership applies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to what extent they need to adapt their leadership due to the context which they are in. Six semi-structured interviews were made, and the results shows that the conditions for Swedish leaders is better in a context higher educational level among the employees and where the employees also express that they value the Swedish leader’s education and professional background. The study also shows that the participants to a high extent need to use an adaptive leadership approach to match the various contexts they work in. The leadership style the participants mostly use is a mixture of what they have learned in their new environment with their roots still in the Swedish approach. The study also shows that that the outcome of leadership can be affected by the different cultures and hierarchies within the different organisations. It is therefore necessary for the Swedish mangers to have a cultural intelligence and characteristics that can meet both the demands of the employees and the employer who often are of different educational and cultural backgrounds. This balance between the historical leadership in the UAE and the new Western leadership is something that the Swedish managers need to bring with them in their everyday work

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