Centre for Political History
The Centre for Political History uses a broad interpretation of the concept of 'politics', implying all attempts at consciously ordering society, and the conflicts that may result from these attempts. The orbit of our research encompasses the study of political institutions and international relations, as well as that of political theories, ideologies, cultures, movements and minorities. The Centre encourages interdisciplinary research in which historians, anthropologists, political scientists, jurists, philosophers, and others can add to our understanding of the past. It also wants to cross the traditional divide between the historical periods, bringing together medievalists, early modernists, modernists and contemporary historians; and between western and non-western history by its recent expansion into the pre-modern and modern Islamic Worlds.
Concrete themes currently studied by members of the center include the history of the monarchy in Europe from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries, diplomatic relations (Egypt-Syria, Iran, India) and religious patronage during the 13th-16th centuries, parliamentary culture in Western Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries, the political representation of masculinity and femininity, the political impact of racial thought, Lebanese memory politics, and Syrian authoritarianism and resistance since the late 1970s, extreme-right movements and ideologies, determinants of voting behavior in contemporary Europe, and everyday nationalism in modern Europe.