This symposium will take place during the First World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES). It will comprise a series of panels sponsored by the Robert Schuman Center, European University Institute. Organizers: Dr. Kamran Ali (University of Texas/Austin) and Dr. Martina Rieker (American University in Cairo).

Tourism is the development strategy for a new area named the Southern Mediterranean in post Cold War regional economic reorganization. These panels explore both the direct and indirect effects of tourism on the economic, social and cultural reproduction of distinct territorial states. They map four of the most significant areas affected by these developments. Papers will address questions regarding larger economic possibilities, expectations and limitations of this development strategy; the remapping of local spatial power relations in conjunction with tourist development; the imbrication of urban reconstruction and tourism and the emergence of a global Islamic heritage industry. These panels seek to bring into focus the new sorts of political alignments and local social transformations that are emerging as a result of tourist development in the Southern Mediterranean.

Panel 1: Touristic Economies: A Reassessment

Panel 2: Tourist Development and the Reconfiguration of Rural/Urban Geographies

Panel 3: Tourism and Urban Transformation

Panel 4: Tourism and Islamic Heritage

Registration modalities: Abstracts (300 - 400 words) must be sent to Dr. Kamran Ali (asadar@mail.utexas.edu), Dr. Martina Rieker (mrieker@aucegypt.edu) AND to the WOCMES Secretariat not later than 15 December 2001. For further information see WOCMES-website at www.wocmes.de Please use the online registration form.