How has Iran’s economy and society survived under sanctions?
How Sanctions Work by Narges Bajoghli, Vali Nasr, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, and Ali Vaez explores how Iran has managed to endure decades of economic warfare. Taking a mixed methods…
Tag: Middle East
Maria Kastrinou and Salam Said: How to kill a country: Feeling history in scenes of pillage
We write at a time of genocide, war, and the feeling that whoever has the more guns can do whatever they want. We ask how different forms of…
Zoya Masoud: Of Exclusive Victimhood and its Competitive Narratives in Post-Assad Syria
Alawite communities in Syria have been associated with the regime of Assad as the latter’s family itself is of Alawite descent. Consequently, Alawites have frequently faced accusations of…
Charlotte Al-Khalili: Transitional Justice from Below: Demands for Truth and Social Reparations
What do transitional justice aspirations look like a year after the downfall of the Assad regime for Syrians in the country? What can transitional justice mean for a…
Thomas Pierret: The Sunni Ulama: Syria’s Parliamentary Era as a Golden Age
One might intuitively assume that the Syrian Sunni ulama (religious scholars) would valorize periods emblematic of Islam’s bygone grandeur, such as the Umayyad or Ottoman empires. In practice,…
Christine Crone: Constructing post-Ba’athist Syria through Cultural Heritage: the role of the Syrian Arab News Agency
In the years leading up to the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad and the downfall of the Syrian Ba’athist state, the Syrian state propagated what I referred to in…
Kræn Kielsgaard: Rewriting Syria´s history – the case of Israel in Syrian schoolbooks after December 8, 2024
This post examines how the new Syrian state seeks to reconstruct public memory through revisions of public-school curricula in a period of profound political and social transformation after…
Birgitte S. Holst: Introduction: Uses of the past in the post-Assad political transition in Syria
Since Bashar Al-Assad was overthrown as President of Syria in early December 2024, the political situation in the country has been volatile. Although a new group of powerholders…
What makes politics in the Middle East so unstable?
In The Great Betrayal, Fawaz Gerges examines the reasons for consistent political instability in the Middle East since the early 20th century. Examining Western intervention, domestic authoritarian ru…
Görkem Akgöz: “The Sad Truth” Then and Now: Pasts and Presents of Danish Refugee Policy
This text was originally published in Swedish in Arbetar Historia (No.191-192, 2024). Special thanks to the editors for granting permission to republish. In 2015, during the peak of…
2024 SAFN Student Research Award Winner!
Majeed Malhas We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2024 SAFN Student Research Award is Majeed Malhas. Malhas won with a project entitled “Arab Nationalism…
Palestinian Refugee Women from Syria to Jordan – review
In Palestinian Refugee Women from Syria to Jordan, Afaf Jabiri considers the discrimination and violence experienced by Palestinian women displaced from Syria to refugee camps in Jordan. Based on four…
Q and A with Naila Kabeer on Renegotiating Patriarchy
In this interview with Anna D’Alton (LSE Review of Books), Naila Kabeer discusses her new book, Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency and the Bangladesh Paradox, forthcoming from LSE Press in Septe…
Mark LeVine on his book Heavy Metal Islam
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520389380/heavy-metal-islam Lara Sabra: Your book has shown that especially in the Middle East, which suffers from censorship and authoritarian regimes, art ca…
Review: Making Levantine Cuisine
Anny Gaul, Graham Ajman Pitts, Vichi Valosik, eds. Making Levantine Cuisine: Modern Foodways of the Eastern Mediterranean. University of Texas Press. Austin: 2021. ISBN: 9781477324585 Noha Fik…
Iranian Women ask for ‘Life’ and ‘Freedom’
The veil has become a tool for resistance in Iran. Women set their veils on fire and demand self-determinacy over their bodies. The movement is not against religion.…
Ep # 92 Emergency Contraceptives & Hymenoplasty: Lisa Wynn on Sexual & Reproductive Health Tech
The Familiar Strange · Ep # 92 Emergency Contraceptives & Hymenoplasty: Lisa Wynn on Sexual & Reproductive Health Tech This podcast contains themes or topics that may be…
Not “just tools”: The framework of equivalence and cochlear implants in Jordan by Timothy Y. Loh
“Should all deaf children learn sign language?” This seemingly innocuous question was the theme of a roundtable article published in the influential journal Pediatrics in 2015, which compiled…
A different perspective on “child marriages” among Syrian refugees in Jordan
By Marina de Regt For years, humanitarian organisations in Jordan and Lebanon have been concerned about the increasing number of “child marriages” among Syrian refugees. While early marriages…
More dangerous research: Anthropologist detained, beaten, forcibly disappeared in Egypt
UPDATES: He was released by presidential decree on July 30, 2022 and now has successfully defended his Master’s thesis :Following Unjust Imprisonment, Ahmed Samir Santawy Completes Master’s Stud…
More dangerous research: Anthropologist detained, beaten, forcibly disappeared in Egypt
UPDATES: He was released by presidential decree on July 30, 2022 and now has successfully defended his Master’s thesis :Following Unjust Imprisonment, Ahmed Samir Santawy Completes Master’s Studies…
When research becomes dangerous: Anthropologist facing jail smuggles himself out over snowy mountains
Kareem Ahmady: “I just simply left”. Photo: Ahmady’s website One month ago I have written about anthropologist Kareem Ahmady, who has researched child marriage, female genital mutila…
When research becomes dangerous: Anthropologist facing jail smuggles himself out over snowy mountains
Kareem Ahmady: “I just simply left”. Photo: Ahmady’s website One month ago I have written about anthropologist Kareem Ahmady, who has researched child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM)…
New anthropology show in Arabic: "Anthropology helps us to understand who exploits us – and who we exploit"
Mai Amer: “I really hope the show encourages viewers to reflecting on and critique certain things they think”. Screenshot from her Facebook page How can we better understand…