Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

Francesco Cavatorta

Francesco Cavatorta is professor of political science at Laval University in Quebec, Canada and co-editor of a 2020 special issue of the journal Politics & Religion on Islamism, Islamist parties and economic policymaking in the neo-liberal age.

MER Article

Understanding the Diversity of Political Islam

The complex phenomenon of political Islam has inspired much sensational and alarmist writing, both popular and scholarly. Since the early 1980s, however, MERIP contributors have provided an antidote with in-depth and nuanced analyses of the impact Islamic movements have had on popular struggles for democracy and women’s rights and

Francesco Cavatorta • 4 min read

Current Analysis

Understanding the Diversity of Political Islam

Francesco Cavatorta examines MERIP's 50 years of covering the complex phenomenon of political Islam and finds that much of it is based on field research, participant observation, interviews and ethnography. The result has been a rich diversity of approaches that comprehend the plural nature of Islam

Francesco Cavatorta • 4 min read

MER Article

Beyond Ghannouchi

On October 23, 2011, for the first time since independence in 1956, Tunisians were called to the polls in free and transparent elections. They were to choose 217 members of a Constituent Assembly that for a year would play a double role: drafting a new constitution and governing the country.

Francesco Cavatorta, Rikke Hostrup Haugbølle • 15 min read