David Mednicoff, assistant professor of public policy and acting director of the Social Thought and Political Economy Program, will discuss “A Clash of Globalizations? Law and the Regulation of Non-Citizen Workers in the Arabian Gulf,” on Monday, May 2, at 12:00 p.m. in Thompson Hall 620.
This is the final talk in the 2011 Faculty Colloquium sponsored by the Center for Public Policy and Administration, and is open to the public.
Mednicoff’s talk will draw on his recent research in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, and Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Over 90% of the labor force in these two cities is comprised of immigrants, making citizens a minority in their native communities. Mednicoff’s research explores the legal responses to these long-term trends, and the often countervailing forces and narratives that complicate the development and enforcement of labor regulation in the Persian Gulf.
Mednicoff may also touch in his talk on other aspects of Arab politics in recent months.
Mednicoff’s research has been supported by a multi-year grant from the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar. Mednicoff is part of a working group sponsored by CIRS that has spent the past two years examining migrant labor in the Gulf. The group recently published a summary report of its findings.
Mednicoff’s work has also been informed this past year through his fellowship with the Dubai Initiative, a project of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, and his service as a facilitator and moderator for the Initiative’s recent conference in Cambridge, MA.
Mednicoff’s areas of expertise include Middle Eastern law and politics, international law, human rights, globalization and comparative public policy. He holds a B.A. from Princeton, and an M.A., J.D. (international law) and Ph.D. (Political Science) from Harvard. He is currently completing two book manuscripts, one on ruling monarchies in contemporary politics, the second on the rule of law, democratization and U.S. foreign policy in five Arab societies.
In 2006-2007, Mednicoff was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in law at Qatar University, and has received a national prize for innovative teaching related to the U.S. after 9/11/01. At UMass, Mednicoff has been honored with a Lilly Teaching Fellowship and an Outstanding Teacher Award from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.