Ellen M. Lust – författare

Scholars and practitioners seek development solutions through the engineering and strengthening of state institutions. Yet, the state is not the only or the primary arena shaping how citizens, service providers and state officials engage in actions that constitute politics and development. These individuals are members of religious orders, ethnic communities, and other groups that make claims on them, creating incentives that shape their actions. Recognizing how individuals experience these claims and view the choices before them is essential to understanding political processes and development outcomes. This Element establishes a framework elucidating these forces, which is key to knowledge accumulation, designing future research and effective programming. Taking an institutional approach, this Element explains how the salience of arenas of authority associated with various communities and the nature of social institutions within them affect politics and development. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

In the The Middle East, Sixteenth Edition, Ellen Lust brings important new coverage to this comprehensive, balanced, and superbly researched text. In clear prose, Lust and her outstanding contributors explain the landscape of this changing region by examining both regional trends and individual countries. The Sixteenth Edition adds a chapter on Sudan, and other country chapters have been streamlined and fully updated to reflect domestic, regional, and international changes of the past three years. This best-selling text offers a wealth of information to help readers not only comprehend more fully the world around them, but also recognize and formulate policies that can more successfully engage the vitally important Middle East.

Exploring the challenges and risks of social science fieldwork, this book shares best practice for conducting research in hostile environments and pragmatic advice to help you make good decisions.

Drawing on the authors’ experiences in regions of conflict and grounded in real-world examples, the book:

·        Provides practical guidance on important considerations like choosing a research question in sensitive contexts

·        Gives advice on data and digital security to help you minimize fieldwork risk in a contemporary research environment

·        Offers tools and templates you can use to develop a tailored security framework

Building your understanding of the challenges of on-the-ground research, this book empowers you to meet the challenges of your research landscape head on.