Public Pedagogy As an Agent of Social Transformation in Post-2011 Arab Societies.
Public Pedagogy As an Agent of Social Transformation in Post-2011 Arab Societies.
Thursday, 10 July 2025: 00:00
Location: ASJE026 (Annex of the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences)
Oral Presentation
The Post-2011 Arab world witnessed a profound disillusionment with public intellectuals, whose response to the uprisings was either silence or, worse, opposition, thereby betraying their social role. However, this void was quickly filled by a younger generation of knowledge producers who did not fit the traditional ‘category’ of the public intellectual and were dismissed as a result. This was because they departed from their elders’ modus operandi and adopted novel mechanisms for engaging with their audience, particularly an emphasis on the collective co-creation of knowledge and its dissemination through public pedagogy (PP).
It is within this context that the presentation explores the relationship between society and sociology through the prism of PP. It argues that PP serves as both a means to teach sociological theories and an end by transforming societal relationships and attitudes towards sociological knowledge, as well as communities of knowledge creators. My case studies include el Da7ee7 YouTube show, CILAS education program, and the Sekket Ma3aref public lecture series. All three were created after 2011 and have succeeded in (1) providing Egyptian audiences with sociological knowledge and (2) shaping the way citizens interact with their social context—emotionally, politically, and economically. These three instances of PP exemplify a dialectical relationship between sociology and society, where both continually influence one another. For example, the uprisings changed Arab societies' social makeup, leading to a shift in the definition of the public intellectual, which, in turn, prompted further alterations in social structures. One aspect of this transformation is the blurring of boundaries between social roles: the boundary between educators and activists has brought together theory and praxis, while the boundary between the public and private spheres helped evade censorship. Furthermore, the blurred line between teacher and student has emphasized a liberating pedagogy, granting greater political agency.
It is within this context that the presentation explores the relationship between society and sociology through the prism of PP. It argues that PP serves as both a means to teach sociological theories and an end by transforming societal relationships and attitudes towards sociological knowledge, as well as communities of knowledge creators. My case studies include el Da7ee7 YouTube show, CILAS education program, and the Sekket Ma3aref public lecture series. All three were created after 2011 and have succeeded in (1) providing Egyptian audiences with sociological knowledge and (2) shaping the way citizens interact with their social context—emotionally, politically, and economically. These three instances of PP exemplify a dialectical relationship between sociology and society, where both continually influence one another. For example, the uprisings changed Arab societies' social makeup, leading to a shift in the definition of the public intellectual, which, in turn, prompted further alterations in social structures. One aspect of this transformation is the blurring of boundaries between social roles: the boundary between educators and activists has brought together theory and praxis, while the boundary between the public and private spheres helped evade censorship. Furthermore, the blurred line between teacher and student has emphasized a liberating pedagogy, granting greater political agency.