Palestinian Academic Speaks about States and Economic Development

Palestinian academic Adam Hanieh, a senior lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London gave a lecture on the role of state in contemporary development process on September 26, 2016.

Hanieh, speaking at the invitation of the Ph.D. Promgram in Social Sciences,  gave his lecture via Skype after he was banned entry to Palestine last week, for ten years. Hanieh was invited to deliver a series of lectures at Birzeit University for the Ph.D. Program in the Social Sciences.

During the lecture, Hanieh discussed the ways in which state functions have changed during the transition from Keynesian to neoliberal periods. He presented the differences in the hierarchy of states in a globalized world market, the relationship between the state and capitalist social relations, and the modes of contestation against state power.

Hanieh presented examples to further explain the state's role in economic growth in different countries around the world. Alluding to the state's role in East Asia, he argued that state intervention in these countries promoted rapid economic growth by imposing policies and economic reforms that encourages development.

Hanieh brought a Marxist approach to discuss the role of state in economic development, alluding to the socialist explanations that describes the state as an instrument of capital, as well as  a social and economic power.

Adam Hanieh is a senior lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London and the author of Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East.