An Autocratic Middle Class? State Dependency and Protest in the Middle East and North Africa

This MENA Politics Seminar was delivered at the Middle East Centre on Tuesday 10 March 2026 by Professor Neil Ketchley (St Antony’s College) and was chaired by Dr Maryam Alemzadeh (St Antony’s College). Does public sector employment make graduates less likely to join anti-regime protests? Recent scholarship argues yes, with consequences for bottom-up democratization in late-developing economies…