Research topic: 

From Authoritarianism to Civil War: The Transformations of Syria’s Civil Society

Mazen is a LSE Studentship-funded doctoral student at the Department of Social Policy, and affiliated with LSE’s Conflict and Civicness Research Group (CCRG) and Middle East Centre (MEC).

His PhD research seeks to bridge the existing knowledge and practice gaps on civil society during authoritarianism and intrastate violent conflicts. It aims to study the structural, social and political transformations of Syria’s civil society throughout the different phases of the ongoing civil war; and the multifaceted influence of external factors and endogenous contextual characteristics which contribute to these transformations. The research aspires to present a set of recommendations and lessons learned on  the implications of civil war transformations on civil society’s roles in the escalation and/or de-escalation of violence during and in post-conflicts settings.

Prior to joining the PhD programme, Mazen worked for over twelve years with multiple national and international NGOs, CSOs, think tanks and academic institutions, focusing on the issues of social movements, civic engagement, local governance, legitimacy and transformative resilience in Syria and the wider Middle Eastern context. He is also a member of the UN’s Syrian Constitutional Committee.

Mazen has an MA in Governance, Development and Public Policy from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex.

Research interests: Civil society, social movements, violent conflicts, security, public policy

Supervisors: Professor Hakan Seckinelgin, Professor Armine Ishkanian