Courtney Freer Book Launch Panel

On Thursday April 11, 2024, the CSLR hosted a book launch and panel to commemorate the publication of The Resilience of Parliamentary Politics in Kuwait: Parliament, Rentierism, and Society (Oxford University Press 2024) by Courtney Freer, CSLR Senior Fellow and visiting assistant professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Emory University. This event was jointly hosted by the Center of the Study of Law and Religion (CSLR) and the Center for International and Comparative Law (CICL).  

After a brief welcome by CSLR Executive Director and Charlotte McDaniel Scholar, Whittney Barth, Dr. Freer explained the origin and motivation of the book, her interest in Kuwaiti politics, and gave an overview of the organization Kuwait’s governmental system. The book makes three broad propositions: 1) Kuwait clientelism drives political action, 2) oil rents allow the government “buy off” political opposition, and 3) international contexts drives national politics. After these initial remarks, Freer was joined in conversation by Mary L. Dudziak an Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, Patrick Allitt the Cahoon Family Professor of American History, and Associate Teaching Professor Sam Cherribi of both the Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies and Economics departments. These panelists each brought a distinctive point of view from the methodology of their disciplines and unique individual areas of study within the Emory community. 

Freer’s book can be purchased directly from Oxford University Press and most major book distributors. A video of the full-length event and panel discussion can be found on the CSLR’s YouTube channel. A sampling of Freer’s other work in the form of an essay entitled, “POWR Talk: What does Islam say about democracy?” can be accessed on Canopy Forum.