Gilbert Achcar is Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has degrees in Philosophy (ESL, Beirut), Social Sciences (UL, Beirut) and Social History/International Relations (University of Paris-VIII). He taught and/or researched in various universities and research centres in Beirut, Berlin and Paris. Professor Achcar’s research interests and publication topics include: the political economy and sociology of globalisation, the global power structure and grand strategy, empire theory and the unfolding of US hegemony globally and in the ‘Broader Middle East’, politics and development economics of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, the sociology of religion in general, of Islam and Islamic fundamentalism in particular, social change and social theory. Professor Achcar’s books have been published in Arabic, Chinese (Mainland and Taiwan), English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Urdu. His most recent book The People Want: A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising has been widely praised for its ‘valuable, in-depth and original perspective for evaluating the popular revolts in the Arab region' (Jordan Times) while he has been considered as 'one of the best analysts of the contemporary Arab world' (Le Monde).

Cihan Tuğal is Associate Professor in the Sociology Department at the University of California at Berkley. He works on mobilization, socioeconomic change, and the role of religion in sociopolitical projects. His research so far has focused on how the interaction between religion and politics shapes everyday life, urban space, class relations, and national identity. His book Passive Revolution: Absorbing the Islamic Challenge to Capitalism was published in 2009 by Stanford University Press. His research was also published in Economy and Society, Theory and Society, Sociological Theory, Qualitative Sociology, the New Left Review, Development and Change, the Sociological Quarterly, area journals, and edited volumes. The common thread of these chapters, articles, and the book is bringing in a cultural perspective to politics and economics. Tuğal wrote on Gezi Revolt in Turkey in 2013 in New Perspectives on Turkey.

Dr Theo Papadopoulos is Director of Studies for the Master of Science (MSc) in International Public Policy Analysis in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath. He is teaching modules on advanced policy analysis techniques and cross-national public policy analysis and has been a visiting Professor in policy Departments in Finland, China and Greece and, most recently, in the Maastricht School of Governance (the Netherlands). He is an expert in comparative policy research in employment and social protection; the dynamics of familistic welfare regimes and the socio-political implications of European integration. His recent publications include articles on the social impact of the austerity measures that followed the sovereign debt crisis in Greece, the emergent governance of European industrial relations and a book on the policies of migration and social integration in Europe published by Policy Press (co-editors: Emma Carmel and Alfio Cerami).

Seraphim Seferiades (PhD Columbia - http://seferiadescv.blogspot.gr) is an Associate Professor of Politics at the Panteion University of Social and Political Science, Athens and Life Member in Politics and History at the University of Cambridge (CLH). For several years the Secretary of the Greek Political Science Association, he has been Senior Member at the University of Oxford (St Peter’s College), Hannah Seeger Davis Fellow at Princeton University, Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute and tutor in the Arts at the University of Cambridge (CHU). His work spans European and Greek labour and social history, contentious politics and social science methodology. He has edited or co-edited volumes on methodology, social movements and the Greek dictatorship, and published extensively in journals such as Comparative Politics, the European Journal of Industrial Relations, the Journal of Contemporary History, the Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica, the Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Actuel Marx, Partecipazione e Conflitto and the Greek Political Science Review. He is currently completing two volumes on contentious politics and historiography.

Prof. Dr. Atilla Göktürk received his Bachelor and PhD degrees at Ankara University. At present, he teaches at Dokuz Eylül University, Department of Public Management. Dr. Göktürk received his Associate Professor degree in the department of Urbanization and Environment Problems at Dokuz Eylül University. His scientific researches mainly concentrate on migration, integration, local governments and urban life.

Dr Morady is Senior Lecturer in Globalisation and Development in the Department of Politics and International Relations. He researches in the field of international political economy, the US/Iranian conflict, and state and development in post-revolutionary Iran. With a PhD from the University of Leeds, he has taught at the University of Westminster since 1994. As course leader for BA Development Studies and International Relations, Dr Morady has primary responsibility for teaching in the area of international development within the Department of Politics and International Relations. Dr Morady is actively involved with the internationalisation of the curriculum, including international partnerships with the Middle East, Turkey and South America - Peru, Brazil and Colombia. Dr Morady pioneered the International Community Project, which is run by students in the Department of Politics and International Relations. This project has built links to a number of different ethnic communities in London, working closely on issues such as politics, power, democracy, diversity, gender and remittance. Dr Morady from the Department of Politics and International Relations has been named the most ‘Outstanding Teacher’ in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities for the annual 2013 Staff Appreciation Awards. Dr Morady has previously taught at the London School of Economics, Birkbeck (University of London) and has extensive experience in further education having taught at City and Islington College.