Podcast appearances and mentions of monica marks

Tunisia's autocratic President Kais Saied, since his dramatic power grab in 2021, has increased the volume of repression in the north African nation, arresting scores of opposition figures as well as civil activists and journalists. The country's fledgling democracy is on life support. Yet Western governments are supporting Saied, believing that his iron grip can stave off a fresh exodus of illegal migrants from Europe and that financial assistance will hold Russia and China at bay. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guest, Elementary school teacher Monica Marks, had several “side hustles” she was involved with in the past, but as she approached motherhood for the first time, she stumbled upon a life-changing opportunity as she was helping out a friend.  A fitness enthusiast, Monica was always on the hunt for durable, fun activewear and when she was introduced to Zyia activewear she not only found functional clothing, she also found clothing and a company that built her confidence and helped her change her mindset….now she's helping others experience the same shift in thought and body acceptance.Monica shares her journey with us and why, (aside from her teaching career and her young family), connecting with others and introducing them to Zyia is so meaningful to her.Episode/Guest LinksActivewear with Monica MarksZyia Active Assorted Conversations LinksPodcast HomepageAssorted Conversations Facebook PageStay up-to-date on podcast happenings and share them with your friendsAssorted Conversations Podcast Facebook CommunityA collaborative and supportive community for you to engage with us, our guests and other listenersShare your passion, network and connect as we all pursue what makes us happy.Exclusive behind-the-scenes content and infoSpecial online events for community members             Follow us on TwitterFollow us on InstagramMusic and Artwork CreditsMusic Credit:  True Living by Patrick MooreRoyalty free music license purchased at soundotcom.comAssorted Conversations Podcast emoji's designed by OpenMoji The open-source emoji and icon project. License: CC BY-SA 4.0

This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Dr. Monica Marks, a professor of Middle East politics at NYU Abu Dhabi who has been thinking about Tunisia for almost 15 years. They discuss Tunisian President Kais Saied's recent moves to consolidate power, why Tunisians seem to support him, what's at stake for Tunisia's democracy, and what role Western donors and institutions can play in the country. Then, Jon, Will Todman, and Caleb Harper continue the conversation about the nature of popular authoritarianism and how we should think about popular despots in Tunisia and the rest of the Arab world.  Monica Marks, “An Interview with Hamma Hammami of the Tunisian Worker's Party,” Jadaliyya, August 20, 2021.   Will Todman, "A Coup in Tunisia?" CSIS, July 27, 2021. Will Todman, "Challenging Authority in Post-Revolution Tunisia," CSIS, January 22, 2020. Monica Marks, “'Letting go of every principle': Tunisia's democratic gains under threat,” Middle East Eye, July 24, 2017. Monica Marks, “Tunisia's Unwritten Story,” The Century Foundation, March 14, 2017.  Episode Transcript, "Tunisia's Popular Authoritarian," CSIS, September 21, 2021.

Tunisia has long been touted as the sole success story to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings. However last month the country's president sacked the prime minister and suspended the parliament in a move that's been largely welcomed by a public fed up with a decade of unresolved corruption and poor management. So what lies next?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why is Tunisia the only success story of the 2011 Arab Spring? Find out on episode nine of Global, featuring conversations with Monica Marks of the University of Oxford, pan-African activist Aya Chebbi and IRI’s Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division Scott Mastic.

Critical analysis of Tunisia and the Ennahdha party by Monica Marks. Marks is an Oxford PhD candidate, Rhodes Scholar and visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Despite the shift Ennahdha has made from Islamism. Marks argues it is a formalization of already-held beliefs. "Ennahdha has a higher objectives- based view of how religion should inform politics. The idea is that the principles can give shape and purpose to policies but that shari'a and Islam do not offer a policy handbook. This is not a new development for Ennahdha. "We should questions terms like 'secularism,' 'post-Islamism,' and 'Islamism' itself— and to what extent they really even apply to the actors we look at. Because Ennahdha is inhabiting a politics place where separating religion and politics is not truly possible in the way Western liberals might conceive it." Marks says that regional context is important to understanding Ennahdha. "The Egypt coup exacerbated re-exsisting patterns of compromise inside Ennahdha. That's not to say the coup didn't have an effect— or wasn't important— it was. But it didn't fundamentally change the direction. It just made a lot of people in Ennahdha say, 'The stakes are even higher. We need to do this.'" "The real turning point moment in Tunisia that forced the hard-line thinkers in Ennahdha to ride the minimalist train was the twin assassinations of Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi. They sparked off the Bardo crisis of summer 2013 and it really created a huge political crisis, where you had a lot of actors calling for the anti-democratic ouster of Ennahdha." "You could argue that the post-Islamist turn happened in the 1980s with Ennahdha. This movement was repeatedly in conversation with opposition movements....it's important to have a broader contextual view."

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Monica Marks, a visiting fellow at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion and a doctoral fellow with the WAFAW program in Aix-en-Provence, France. Marks is a doctoral candidate at St Antony’s College at the University of Oxford. Lynch and Marks discuss Islamist movements and society in Tunisia, as well as Egypt.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Monica Marks, a visiting fellow at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion and a doctoral fellow with the WAFAW program in Aix-en-Provence, France. Marks is a doctoral candidate at St Antony’s College at the University of Oxford. Lynch and Marks discuss Islamist movements and society in Tunisia, as well as Egypt.