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Category: Series

Series are sequences of essays on common questions that are addressed from personal standpoints and particular positions. Written in an accessible way, they contextualize and open up the consideration beyond the boundaries of disciplines and areas of expertise.
Series are curated by individual scholars or editorial groups. They are reviewed or peer-reviewed by the editors and/or participants of the series. They can be employed in writing workshops or accompany the work of collective projects. For more information on form see Contributions.

Between Trade-Based Food Security and Self-Sufficiency: Agricultural Policies and Sectors in Tunisia

By Emile van Ommeren. Around the globe, countries are rethinking their food policy strategies in response to the increasingly uncertain geopolitical situation and climate change. Many countries have expressed their interests in improving their levels of food self-sufficiency– i.e., the extent to which a country can satisfy its food needs from its own domestic production. Rather than taking a state-level perspective, my goal is to understand the role and position of Tunisian farmers in the current debate about food and trade policy. Is there broad support among farmers for a shift towards policies that prioritize local agricultural production? Or are producers in Tunisia divided over the question of how higher levels of food security can be attained?

A two-part collage showing a rustic brick house with a blue door frame on the left, and on the right, a woman in an apron near an outdoor table with another person in a green garden setting.

A Body of Clay: The Vanishing Tradition of House-Building in the Donetsk Region

By Anton Dorokh. A traditional Ukrainian village house (khata) had one floor, white clay-and-wood walls, a hay-covered roof, and small windows. Is there something in this architectural tradition that can serve as a counterpoint to the Soviet narrative? Our family house, which was built in the same style, was destroyed, the ability to return there every summer taken away, and this article is an attempt to resist further dehumanisation and erasure. This purpose made me ask my grandmother questions I had never asked before, to learn histories I did not know as a kid, and I hope that by sharing them with other people I can spark curiosity toward other aspects of Ukrainian culture that are now being erased.

Portrait of a person with short hair and glasses.

Machtat of Kerkenah: An Empowering Motherly Continuum and Cultural Heritage – 5in10 with Souhir Zekri

Souhir Zekri holds a PhD in English Studies from the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, Scotland) and currently teaches at the Higher Institute of Digital Engineering of Tunis (University of Tunis). Her main research areas include life writing theory, motherhood and gender studies, the Italian Diaspora in Scotland, and spatial theory. She also writes short stories and first-person testimonies in relation to gender and harassment. In the academic year 2025–26, Souhir is a MECAM Fellow, working on her project on traditional women singers in Tunisia.

Large fields of solar panels in the Moroccan desert.

Bridging the Mediterranean: Collaborative Pathways or Power Struggles in Renewable Energy?

By Mustapha Majidi. Over the past two decades, several renewable energy strategies and initiatives have been launched in Europe, many of which focus on exploiting and importing the renewable energy potential of the South. This study critically examines the main disadvantages of renewable energy project partnerships in the region, focusing on Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, which represent key actors in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with ambitious and dynamic energy goals. It then analyses the structural imbalances in partnerships, arguing that cooperation in this sector remains largely tilted in favour of the North.

The Sahara desert beneath a blue sky.

A Reverse Shot of Migratory Narratives in Matteo Garrone’s “Io Capitano” (2022)

By Said Chemlal. In his film Io Capitano (I’m the Captain, 2022), Matteo Garrone inverts popular narratives about illegal immigration from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe, both Maghrebi and European. Unlike the common narratives, he brings to the fore the perspective of ‘illegal’ immigrants as individual subjectivities, who become active participants in the film themselves, rather than mere objects of the camera. The protagonists participate in weaving the narrative and, more importantly, (re)narrating their traumatic lived experiences; hence, they are given a voice to tell their stories.

Illustration of workers protesting in front of a ship.

Solidarity against Empire in a Colonial Port City

By Rim Naguib. In January 1907, days of demonstrations swept through the streets and port of Alexandria and spread to Cairo. They had been provoked by the arrest of three migrant trade unionists from Odessa on accusations of intended sabotage on a Russian ship. Through this little-known event, much is revealed of the nature of colonial governance and the rule of difference. The event sheds light on the possibilities of a movement of anti-authoritarianism and solidarity that cuts across race, communal affiliations and social class, despite the colonial setting that fostered racial hierarchies and communalism, and where internationalist ideas and mobilisations were highly policed.

A green wall in front of a avenue lined by trees and skyscrapers.

Transnational Organized Crime and Hybrid Governance in Latin America. The Case of Forced Disappearance in Mexico

By Marcial A. G. Suarez. The article aims to introduce the concept of hybrid governance as a form of mediation between tri-dimensional political actors: the state; violent non-state actors (VNSAs), and society. Since the 1980s, Latin America has been experiencing the emergence of several VNSAs with governance capacities, originating from distinct factors among which are economic, political, and social crises, as well as intrastate conflicts. We explore the strategies developed in Mexican civil society to confront forced disappearance perpetrated by both organized crime and the state.

Two girls are sitting on a wooden bench in the park. One is looking at the camera, both are wearing jeans and sleeveless tops.

Ukrainian Youth in Denmark: Growing Up and Working Amid Forced Migration

By Nataliia Varha and Kathrine Vitus. Ukrainian youth who have experienced a full-scale war and who have found themselves in situations of forced migration undergo the process of growing up at an accelerated pace, often without the usual support systems – family, home, stability. Their transition to adulthood occurs in new cultural, economic, and social environments where personal choice, adaptability, and self-reliance become critically important. The project “The Transitions of Displaced Ukrainian Youth – A Qualitative Longitudinal Study” examined their adaptation strategies and transitions into adulthood.

Map showing the connection between different cities of the Mediterranean through telegraphs.

(De)colonizing the French Mediterranean: Connections and Power Relations

Clara-Auguste Süß in Conversation with Manuel Borutta. This conversation explores the historical interconnections, dependencies, and violence linking the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean and how those have shaped social, political, and economic structures on both sides. It touches on the history of Mediterranean studies, struggles of decolonization today, and the role of scholars in the progress. Lastly, it looks at “the Mediterranean” as an analytical category and its limitations.

A woman wearing a mask is holding a baby.

Care, Inequalities, and Conviviality. The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Berlin, Buenos Aires and Mexico City

By Raquel Rojas et al. Care seemed to have become one of the most urgent issues of our time amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This empirical analysis focuses on the cases of Argentina, Mexico, and Germany, based on original surveys conducted in the largest city of each country: Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Berlin. The analysis shows that different models of care provision translated into heterogeneous levels of support for the population during the crisis. Unequal access to care services determined, to a large extent, the unequal impact of the pandemic and its containment measures on specific social groups.