Ziad Abu-Rish

Associate Professor of Human Rights and Middle Eastern Studies; Director, MA Program in Human Rights and the Arts

Academic Program Affiliation(s): Human Rights, Middle Eastern Studies

Biography: Professor Abu-Rish is a scholar of the modern Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. His research centers around state formation, economic development, and popular mobilizations, particularly in Lebanon and Jordan. His teaching experience includes undergraduate and graduate courses in human rights; comparative state formation; various themes in Middle East studies; and research methodologies. Abu-Rish is the author of The State of Lebanon: Popular Politics and Institution Building in the Wake of Independence (Stanford University Press, 2026). He co-created (with artist Tania El Khoury) The Search for Power, a touring lecture performance and sound installation exploring the history of electricity in Beirut. Abu-Rish is also coeditor of The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old Order? (2012) and Critical Voices: A Collection of Interviews from and on the Middle East (2015). Abu-Rish has also authored several articles appearing in Middle East Report and Review of Middle East Studies and chapters in edited volumes on the political economy of the Middle East, the Arab uprisings, and teaching Middle East history. Abu-Rish also serves as coeditor of Arab Studies Journal and Jadaliyya e-zine, and codirector of the Lebanese Dissertation Summer Institute.

BA, Whitman College; MA, Arab studies, Georgetown University; MA and PhD, history, University of California, Los Angeles. At Bard since 2019.

Highlights:

2026:

Publication

The State of Lebanon: Popular Politics and Institution Building in the Wake of Independence (Stanford University Press).

Website: https://www.sup.org/books/middle-east-studies/state-lebanon

2021:

Appearance

Professor Ziad Abu-Rish Speaks with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now about the Crisis in Lebanon

Website: https://www.bard.edu/news/professor-ziad-abu-rish-speaks-with-amy-goodman-on-democracy-now-about-the-crisis-in-lebanon-2021-07-10

Publication

“Lebanon’s Pandemic in Context,” in CCAS News Magazine, June 2021.

Website: https://ccas.georgetown.edu/2021/06/08/lebanons-pandemic-in-context/

2020:

Publication

"Lebanon Beyond Exceptionalism," in A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa, edited by Joel Beinin, Bassam Haddad, and Sherene Seikaly (Stanford University Press, 2020)

Appearance

Bard Historian Talks to Democracy Now! about Political Aftermath of the Beirut Blast

Website: https://www.bard.edu/news/bard-historian-ziad-abu-rish-talks-to-democracy-now-about-the-political-aftermath-of-the-beirut-blast-and-the-need-for-structural-change-2020-08-12

2018:

Lecture Performance and Installation

The Search for Power, by Tania El Khoury and Ziad Abu-Rish.

Website: https://taniaelkhoury.com/work/the-search-for-power/

2016:

Publication

“Municipal Politics in Lebanon,” Middle East Report 280, Fall 2016.

Website: https://merip.org/2016/10/municipal-politics-in-lebanon/

2015:

Publication

“Garbage Politics,” Middle East Report 277, Winter 2015.

Website: https://merip.org/2016/03/garbage-politics/

2014:

Publication

“Protests, Regime Stability, and State Formation in Jordan,” in Beyond the Arab Spring: The Evolving Ruling Bargain in the Middle East, ed. Mehran Kamrava (Oxford University Press)

Website:https://www.academia.edu/23176969/Protests_Regime_Stability_and_State_Formation_in_Jordan

Highlights:

2020 — Publication
"Lebanon Beyond Exceptionalism," in A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa, edited by Joel Beinin, Bassam Haddad, and Sherene Seikaly (Stanford University Press, 2020)

2020 — Appearance
Bard Historian Talks to Democracy Now! about Political Aftermath of the Beirut Blast

2016 — Publication
“Municipal Politics in Lebanon,” Middle East Report 280, Fall 2016
 
Website: https://www.academia.edu/32773773/Municipal_Politics_in_Lebanon

2015 — Publication
“Garbage Politics,” Middle East Report 277, Winter 2015
 
Website: https://www.academia.edu/23367578/Garbage_Politics

2014 — Publication
“Protests, Regime Stability, and State Formation in Jordan,” in Beyond the Arab Spring: The Evolving Ruling Bargain in the Middle East, ed. Mehran Kamrava (Oxford University Press)
 
Website: https://www.academia.edu/23176969/Protests_Regime_Stability_and_State_Formation_in_Jordan

Contact:

Email:
Location: Hegeman Science Hall
Office: 302 Hegeman