Prof. Jane Harrigan's Inaugural Lecture: Did Food Prices Plant the Seeds of the Arab Spring?
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 19/02/2013

Professor Jane Harrigan's Inaugural Lecture was given on 28 April 2011 at SOAS, University of London.

Global food prices rose dramatically in 2007 and 2008, sparking food riots and demonstrations in several Middle Eastern and North African countries. Now food prices are on the rise again.

Though widely overlooked,  the steep cost of feeding one's family is an important trigger for the popular unrest which has already toppled several Middle East regimes. Leaders in the region have begun to realise that rising food prices have very real political consequences. In her inaugural lecture, Professor Harrigan will explore the changing face of food security in the region.

Professor Harrigan has published extensively on the Middle East and North Africa, including three recent books co-authored books "Aid and Power in the Arab World", "Economic Liberalisation, Social Capital and Islamic Welfare Provision" and "Globalisation, Democratisation and Radicalisation in the Arab World". She has also worked extensively on food security issues in Eastern and Southern Africa.