Interview with Salam Kawakibi

Tags: West Asia , Civil Society in West Asia
Additional tags: Salam Kawakibi , Knowledge and change

Bio: Salam Kawakibi is a researcher in political and social science. He is a senior researcher at Arab Reform Initiative and the University of Amsterdam. His main interests are media, civil societies, international relations and human rights in Arab countries. He also has written many articles on European and Arabic media and books. He is an appointed trainer in human rights and international human law. Furthermore, he is Associate Researcher for IREMAM Aix-en-Provence and GREMMO Lyon, collaborating with IFRI in Paris. Mr. Kawakibi is formally educated in economics, international relations, international humanitarian law, international human rights and political science.

How do you see the gap between academics and practitioners? How do you think this gap can be bridged (if at all)?

 

“The gap is relatively wide but it exists not only between the two parties within the countries involved, it exists also, and above all, within the parties working on the area from the outside. To bridge this gap requires better communication between the actors involved. Thus it’s important to invest in training practitioners in a way that their thinking is based in part on academic research and enhances their ability to define problems in the field.”

 

How is the academic-practitioner relationship relevant to knowledge exchange?

 

“What’s been lacking in most movements for change in countries that have chosen this path is knowledge. Desire, commitment and material means are important factors but are useless without knowledge. This has been fully demonstrated in reality. In the field of human rights, for example, activists without knowledge hinder more than they help the process. Their ignorance of concepts and mechanisms detracts from their activism and fieldwork. Enhancing their juridical competence through knowledge and training improves in a very concrete way their contribution to the good cause to which they’re committed.”

 

How do you relate your work in local realities to global problems?

 

“In my research, it’s important to me to emphasise specific subjects in a local context. However, at the same time, the handling of subjects must reflect a broader issue. It must make the connection between direct observation and conceptualisation. Thus working on GONGOs, for example, in the Syrian case gives me a broader perspective on similar experiences in different regions of the world while preserving the particularity of the designated case.”

 

How do you think your research influences the programme(/movement)?

“In my specific case, I try to bring a perspective that mixes practical experience with theoretical conceptualisation. Prior knowledge of my complicated research field allowed me to pursue activity that to me seemed productive. My collaboration with the project enhanced my knowledge with ‘independent’ remarks and allowed me to provide an inside view of the situation and of the problem I’m looking into.”