Middle Eastern history Books

Book SynopsisThe death of the Islamic Republic''s revolutionary patriarch, Ayatollah Khomeini, the bitter denouement of the Iran-Iraq War, and the marginalisation of leading factions within the political elite, in tandem with the end of the Cold War, harboured immense intellectual and political repercussions for the Iranian state and society. It was these events which created the conditions for the emergence of Iran''s post-revolutionary reform movement, as its intellectuals and political leaders sought to re-evaluate the foundations of the Islamic state''s political legitimacy and religious authority. In this monograph, Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, examines the rise and evolution of reformist political thought in Iran and analyses the complex network of publications, study circles, and think-tanks that encompassed a range of prominent politicians and intellectuals in the 1990s. In his meticulous account of the relationships between the post-revolutionary political class and intelligentsia, he explores a paTrade Review'Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi's Revolution and its Discontents: Political Thought and Reform in Iran caps a long and illustrious body of scholarship relentlessly articulating Iranian intellectual history in the course of a fateful encounter with colonial modernity. Like a virtuoso sailer he navigates judiciously through some troublesome seas to carry forward the work done by his elders to new an exiting shores unforeseen at the dawn of an Islamist turn in contemporary Iranian history. With this masterful book, Sadeghi-Boroujerdi has joined the happy few.' Hamid Dabashi, Columbia University, New York'This is a masterful and highly readable analysis of the aspirations as well as the trials and tribulations of the 'religious intelligentsia' in the Islamic Revolution. It is essential reading for anyone intrigued by the question whether the term 'religious intelligentsia' is a contradiction in terms.' Ervand Abrahamian, Bernard M. Baruch College, City University of New York'The publication of Revolution and Its Discontents marks so much more than a groundbreaking book that deepens and widens our understanding of the dynamic nature of Iranian politics and religious thought since the 1979 Revolution. It also marks the arrival of a major new scholar to the field of Iranian studies. Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi combines deep intimacy with all the relevant sources, profound analytical skills, and uncommon grace in making comparative and theoretical moves that bring the material from Iran into a robust dialogue with global trends. Most enthusiastically recommended for all scholars of Iranian studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Islamic Studies, post-colonial studies, and beyond.' Omid Safi, Duke University, North Carolina'This fascinating book re-interprets the post-revolutionary ideological topography of the Islamic Republic of Iran through a careful reading of the works of religious intellectuals and Islamist Left in Iran. Sadeghi-Boroujerdi complicates simplistic binary categorisation of the partisans of the Islamic Republic as reformist/hardliners to show us the broad range of political, economic, and religious ideologies of the country's political elite.' Laleh Khalili, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London'An erudite interrogation of the intellectual bases of the Reform Movement in Iran. An intellectual history of the first order, Sadeghi-Boroujerdi's analytical narrative dissects the intellectual vitality of a movement that struggled to define itself within a political environment that proved increasingly unsettling.' Ali Ansari, University of St Andrews, Scotland'Sadeghi-Boroujerdi offers a theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich study of the emergence of a vibrant intellectual community in postrevolutionary Iran. His analysis takes the reader beyond the simple binaries of religious versus secular intellectuals and shows with an exemplary clarity the plurality of sources with reference to which those intellectuals intervene in politics and cultural production in the contemporary Iranian society.' Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, Princeton University, New Jersey'Iran is the only country to have experienced an Islamic revolution, giving reality to a long-standing Islamist dream. This revolution and the regime it established have defined Muslim politics around the world for and against Iran. But having been achieved, the revolution also gave rise to post-Islamist thought in Iran. Seeking to surpass rather than reject the revolution, these thinkers provide a fascinating insight into the future of Islam. Sadeghi-Boroujerdi's book represents the most sophisticated analysis yet written of post-Islamism as a form of political thought, one that will likely shape our world in unforeseen ways.' Faisal Devji, University of Oxford'The overthrow of a brutal monarch opened up in Iran questions that, as recent events show, are far from being settled in even so-called advanced democracies: What is a 'people', and who gets to represent it? Khomeini imposed his own answers. But, contrary to what the exponents of Muslim medievalism alleged, his Islamic republicanism, which required regular elections as well as clerical 'guardianship', was an ultra-modern invention. Khomeini literally forged a tradition of clerical Shiism. More importantly, it has been consistently challenged, most strikingly from within its old guard, as Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi brilliantly describes in his new book Revolution and Its Discontents: Political Thought and Reform in Iran.' Pankaj Mishra, Bloomberg Opinion (www.bloomberg.com/opinion)'This is a brilliant book dealing with the religious politics of Iran since the 1978 Islamic Revolution.' R. W. Olson, Choice'Revolution and its Discontents is beautifully written, theoretically solid, and offers a rich and engaging analysis of the intellectual reformist milieu in Iran between the early 1990s and the mid-2000s, through the protagonists' own voices and written production … this remains an extremely relevant, accurate, and engaging work published on the intellectual history of Iran in the post-Cold war era, able to speak not only to scholars of modern Iran, but to all historians and social scientists interested in revolutionary and reformist movements.' Paola Rivetti, International Journal of Middle East Studies'The magnificent book under review goes a long way in demystifying the Iranian reform movement of the 1990s and early 2000s … Revolution and its Discontents should be particularly praised for transcending the all too insular conventional discussions of Iranian political thought.' Simon Wolfgang Fuchs, Political Theology'Sadeghi-Boroujerdi's willingness to astutely and clearly address the limitations of reformist thought in Iran, which are often downplayed or even avoided, is one of the book's greatest strengths. Since he convincingly manages to situate these debates and their inspirations firmly within the context of post-Cold War liberalism, Revolution and Its Discontents should be particularly praised for transcending the all too insular conventional discussions of Iranian political thought.' Simon Wolfgang Fuchs, Political TheologyTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Religious intellectuals, reform and the struggle for hegemony; 2. Constructing Behesht-e Jahan: Islam, the clergy and the state; 3. Political genealogies of reform: the rowshanfekran-e dini and the Islamic left; 4. Revolution and its discontents: ideology and the death of utopia; 5. Free faith, democratic governance and the 'official reading' of religion; 6. Khatami, the 2nd of Khordad front and the pedagogics of pluralism; 7. Sa'id Hajjariyan and reformist strategy: sovereign disenchantment and the politics of participation; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisLaying the foundation for an understanding of US-Israeli relations, this lively and accessible book provides critical background on the origins and development of the ''special'' relations between Israel and the United States. Questioning the usual neo-realist approach to understanding this relationship, David Tal instead suggests that the relations between the two nations were constructed on idealism, political culture, and strategic ties. Based on a diverse range of primary sources collected in archives in both Israel and the United States, The Making of an Alliance discusses the development of relations built through constant contact between people and ideas, showing how presidents and Prime Ministers, state officials, and ordinary people from both countries, impacted one another. It was this constancy of religion, values, and history, serving the bedrock of the relations between the two countries and peoples, over which the ephemeral was negotiated.Trade Review'For anyone seeking to understand why American policymakers and Americans in general support Israel, this book is essential reading. Tal convincingly argues that the 'special relationship' between the United States and Israel is deeply rooted and very resilient - shaped by religion, culture and history, not merely by strategic interests.' Dov Waxman, University of California, Los Angeles'Based on extensive archival research, David Tal examines the many explanations for the close ties between the United States and Israel. He demonstrates that while shared values and culture, as well as shared interests, underlie this informal alliance, in a rapidly changing world, even these ties may not be immutable.' Ronald W. Zweig, New York University'… a compelling read, especially for those seeking a critical academic approach that transcends superficial over-simplifications used to justify preconceived viewpoints.' Natan Aridan, Israel Journal of Foreign AffairsTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. The sources of the American support for Zionism; 2. Friendship: from Woodrow Wilson to Harry S. Truman; 3. Friendly impartiality, 1949–1958; 4. Strategic change 1958–1968; 5. From friendship to strategic alliance, 1969–1989; 6. Friendship and strategic alliance.

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Book SynopsisSince the publication of the first edition, substantial changes have occurred in the political landscape of Jordan and the Middle East. King Abdullah II has cemented his rule amidst an onslaught of threats which have faced his kingdom since he succeeded his father in 1999. The Syrian civil war has fundamentally shifted the political context of its neighbouring countries, with Jordan experiencing a huge population explosion as people moved across the border from Syria. This second edition of Robins'' accessible and succinct survey of Jordanian political history is an account of a century of events within a country whose fortunes are closely identified with its heads of state. Beginning in the early 1920s in the Mandate years, and now benefiting from new material on the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, attempts at democratisation, the collapse of the economy, the Jordan Spring and refugee crisis, this new edition featuring original research brings Jordan''s political history into the twenTrade Review'Robins … arguably knows more about Jordan than anyone in the West, and this second edition of his history of the kingdom is as authoritative and informative as the first. No other volume begins to capture the country as well as this one … Essential.' P. Clawson, ChoiceTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. On the edge of empire; 2. Founding state and regime; 3. The long road to independence; 4. Loss of innocence; 5. The roaring fifties; 6. The road to disaster; 7. Illusions of progress; 8. Hussein's choices; 9. Abdullah's governance debate at home; 10. International relations under Abdullah; Conclusion: Jordan: still a politely run authoritarian state.

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Book SynopsisRevealing what is ''Islamic'' in Islamic art, Shaw explores the perception of arts, including painting, music, and geometry through the discursive sphere ofhistoricalIslam including the Qur''an, Hadith, Sufism, ancient philosophy, and poetry. Emphasis on the experience of reception over the context of production enables a new approach, not only to Islam and its arts, but also as a decolonizing model for global approaches to art history. Shaw combines a concise introduction to Islamic intellectual history with a critique of the modern, secular, and European premises of disciplinary art history. Her meticulous interpretations of intertextual themes span antique philosophies, core religious and theological texts, and prominent prose and poetry in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu that circulated across regions of Islamic hegemony from the eleventh century to the colonial and post-colonial contexts of the modern Middle East.Trade Review'This book is exactly what art history needs when it attempts to think about Islamic art. Instead of asking what properties make an image Islamic, this book asks, what is an image in Islam? When art history begins to understand its secularism, concepts like art, image, vision, matter, and history necessarily change. Shaw gives us a different perceptual culture, one that begins from Islamic discourses, and gradually becomes visible as art and history. It is the first book of its kind, and I hope there will be many more.' James Elkins, School of the Art Institute, Chicago'By questioning the primacy of the art object and placing the experience of perception at center stage, Shaw challenges a number of paradigms within the field of Art History. In this master stroke of scholarship, she pries open the affective and aesthetic landscapes of pre-modern Islamic cultures, untethered from any single-point perspective and re-enchanted by the soaring poesis of her prose.' Christiane Gruber, University of Michigan'A radical rethinking of modern art history and the secular terms of Islamic art history. Stepping out of the perspectival frame, this marvelous book unpacks not only a vibrant Islamic perceptual culture thriving on sensation and mimesis but also imagines the possibility of studying art from a de-colonial angle. An amazing tour de force revealing an alternate approach to art!' Birgit Meyer, Universiteit Utrecht'A question that may seem simple, but behind that door is the history of everything - the shape of thought, the logic of imagination, the cradle of taste. Creative, sophisticated, fluent and spirited, Shaw paints in the rich landscape that gives meaning to self and other.' Victoria Rowe Holbrook, Istanbul Bilgi University'… intriguing, insightful … the book offers stimulating readings of religious and literary texts … in relation to the perception of images.' L. Nees, Choice'… eloquent and readable book will make an excellent companion to the study of Islamic art.' Cleo Cantone, The Muslim World Book Review'... a must-read for art historians, curators and students interested in the sophistication of Islamic art, historically best appreciated by educated Muslims.' Tamimi Arab Pooyan, Journal of the Association of Art HistoryTable of ContentsList of figures; Preface; Note on transcultural communication; Introduction: from Islamic art to perceptual culture; 1. The Islamic image; 2. Seeing with the ear; 3. The insufficient image; 4. Seeing with the heart; 5. Seeing through the mirror; 6. Deceiving deception; 7. The transcendent image; 8. The transgressive image; 9. Mimetic geometries; 10. Perspectives on perspective; Conclusion: out of perspective; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisOne of the most contentious topics in modern Islam is whether one should adhere to an Islamic legal school or follow scripture directly. For centuries, Sunni Muslims have practiced Islam through the framework of the four legal schools. The 20thcentury, however,witnessed the rise of individuals who denounced the legal schools, highlighting cases where they contradict texts from the Qur''an or Sunna. These differences are exemplified in the heated debates between the Salafi ?adith scholar Mu?ammad Na?ir al-Din al-Albani and his Traditionalist critics. This book examines the tensions between Salafis and Traditionalists concerning scholarly authority in Islam. Emad Hamdeh offers an insider''s view of the debates between Salafis and Traditionalists and their differences regarding the correct method of interpreting Islam.He provides a detailed analysis of the rise of Salafism, the impact of the printing press, the role of scholars in textual interpretation, and the divergent approaches to IsTrade Review'This important and timely book not only helps us understand what al-Sisi is referring to but also explains to the reader the roots and history of a clash that has just begun to materialize.' Hussam S. Timani, Reading ReligionTable of ContentsPart I. History: 1. Traditionalism and Salafism; 2. A controversial Salafi; 3. Gatekeepers of knowledge: self-learning and Islamic expertise; Part II. Islamic Law: 4. Can two opposing opinions be valid? Legal pluralism in Islam; 5. Qur'an and Sunna or the Madhhabs?; Part III. Hadith: 6. The pursuit of authencity: reevaluating weak Hadith; 7. Challenging early Hadith scholarship.

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Book SynopsisThis study presents an alternative story of the 2011 Egyptian revolution by revisiting Egypt''s moment of decolonisation in the mid-twentieth century. Anticolonial Afterlives in Egypt explores the country''s first postcolonial project, arguing that the enduring afterlives of anticolonial politics, connected to questions of nationalism, military rule, capitalist development and violence, are central to understanding political events in Egypt today. Through an imagined conversation between Antonio Gramsci and Frantz Fanon, two foundational theorists of anti-capitalism and anticolonialism, Anticolonial Afterlives in Egypt focuses on issues of resistance, revolution, mastery and liberation to show how the Nasserist project, created by Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Free Officers in 1952, remains the only instance of hegemony in modern Egyptian history. In suggesting that Nasserism was made possible through local, regional and global anticolonial politics, even as it reproduced colonial ways ofTrade Review'This important and elegant book contributes a significant reading of post-independence Egyptian political history in terms of the rise and fall of Nasserist hegemony. It stands out for its engagement with Gramsci and Fanon, and for its subtle excavation of the multifarious combinations of coercion and consent at work in the making and attrition of hegemony, and the hauntings that accompany hegemony's after-lives.' John Chalcraft, London School of Economics'A brilliant exploration of decolonization that places the Egyptian revolutions of 1952 and 2011 within a single trajectory. Skillfully weaving together Marxism and postcolonial theory, Salem charts the vicissitudes of hegemony in Egypt while offering remarkable insights into the nature of capitalism, elite formation, and the temporality of revolutionary transformations.' Omnia El Shakry, University of California, Davis'In weaving postcolonial critique with Marxist theory and vice versa, Salem vividly patterns anti-colonial struggle in its neo-liberal afterlives. This book provides a masterclass in expansive theorizing and substantive inquiry.' Robbie Shilliam, Johns Hopkins University'Theoretically grounded in the works of Antonio Gramsci and Franz Fanon, Salem's Anticolonial Afterlives in Egypt argues that the Nasserist ruling class was the only hegemony in modern Egyptian history.' M. L. Russell, Choice'… Anticolonial Afterlives in Egypt is a valuable addition and excellent resource for anyone studying and teaching, or generally interested in, hegemony, postcolonialism, Marxism as well as decolonisation in Egypt and in the postcolony in general.' Haythem Guesmi, LSE Review'Sara Salem's book makes a highly significant contribution to Marxist and postcolonial theories in politics and international relations … [of] value to scholars of the postcolonial state and its distinct articulation in the context of the Middle East. It not only succeeds in challenging conventional approaches to the region but also makes an invaluable contribution to scholars interested in the intersection of the ideational and the material in international politics.' Vivienne Jabri, Perspectives on PoliticsTable of ContentsIntroduction. Trapped in history: revolution in Egypt; Part I. Anticolonialism and its Discontents: 1. Postcolonial and Marxist encounters; 2. Hegemony in Egypt: revisiting Gamal Abdel Nasser; Part II. Hegemony and its Afterlives: 3. Laying neoliberal foundations: Infitah and a new Egypt; 4. Finance capital and empty time; Conclusion. Haunted histories and decolonial futures.

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Book SynopsisIn much of the Muslim world, Islamic political and economic movements appear to have a comparative advantage. Relative to similar secular groups, they are better able to mobilize supporters and sustain their cooperation long-term. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Turkey, a historically secular country that has experienced a sharp rise in Islamic-based political and economic activity. Drawing on rich data sources and econometric methods, Avital Livny challenges existing explanations - such as personal faith - for the success of these movements. Instead, Livny shows that the Islamic advantage is rooted in feelings of trust among individuals with a shared, religious group-identity. This group-based trust serves as an effective substitute for more generalized feelings of interpersonal trust, which are largely absent in many Muslim-plurality countries. The book presents a new argument for conceptualizing religion as both a personal belief system and collective identity.Trade Review'One of the central obsessions of scholars of the Muslim world has been to explain why many of that world's most successful political parties have been ones dedicated to legislating Islamic law. Avital Livny offers a fresh answer to this old question: Religion matters, not by shaping what voters want, but by providing group members with a shared identity. Drawing on a variety of data both qualitative and quantitative, observational and experimental, Livny demonstrates that Islamists' shared religious identity enables them to overcome the mistrust that plagues developing societies, rendering them in turn more capable than their opponents of acting collectively and of garnering the votes of their compatriots. This is a deeply impressive work of social science that speaks powerfully to anyone interested in understanding how religion and religious identity function in political life.' Tarek Masoud, Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Massachusetts'… Trust and Islamic Advantage makes an empirically rich and theoretically engaging contribution to the scholarship on religion and politics and Middle Eastern politics. With its meticulous empirical analyses, it will stimulate high-quality scholarly discussions on the role of identity-based trust in political processes in Muslim-majority countries and beyond.' Güneş Murat Tezcür, Perspectives on PoliticsTable of ContentsPart I. Theoretical Development: 1. Understanding the rise of Islamic-based movements in the Muslim world; 2. Evaluating existing theories of the Islamic advantage; 3. Generalized distrust and the participation gap in the Muslim world; 4. Muslim identity and group-based trust; Part II. Applications and Empirics: 5. Explaining the Islamic advantage in political participation; 6. Islam, trust, and strategic voting in Turkey; 7. The quasi-integration of firms in an Islamic community: the case of MÜSİAD; 8. Conclusion; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisExploring the intersections of visual culture, design and politics in Beirut from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, this compelling interdisciplinary study critically examines a global conjuncture in Lebanon''s history, marked by anticolonial struggle and complicated by a Cold War order. Against a celebratory reminiscence of the ''golden years'', Beirut''s long 1960s is conceived of as a liminal juncture, an anxious time and space when the city held out promises at once politically radical and radically cosmopolitan. Zeina Maasri examines the transnational circuits that animated Arab modernist pursuits, shedding light on key cultural transformations that saw Beirut develop as a Mediterranean site of tourism and leisure, a nexus between modern art and pan-Arab publishing and, through the rise of the Palestinian Resistance, a node in revolutionary anti-imperialism. Drawing on uncharted archives of printed media this book expands the scope of historical analysis of the postcolonial Arab EaTrade Review'Maasri's account of the changing landscape of visual culture in 1960s Beirut provides immense insight into a critical moment in the shifting local, regional, and global dynamics animating post-colonial Lebanon. She challenges exceptionalist and teleological narratives while offering a historically grounded and analytically rigorous account of that period and its legacies.' Ziad M. Abu-Rish, Ohio University'This fascinating and absorbing book tells the story of how visual political materials was produced in 1960s Beirut, then an international node in Third Worldist and anti-imperialist movements. What makes Maasri's narrative stand out is its focus not only on the visual scaffolding of transnational solidarity but also on material published by the state, tourism organisations and CIA-funded cultural bodies. This compelling account illuminates the role of both publishing and visual materials in the working of political ideologies and movements.' Laleh Khalili, Queen Mary University of London'In snappy prose, Zeina Maasri decenters both nationalist and Eurocentrist readings of book cultures beyond the West to reveal the vibrant panoply of mobile, political, aesthetic engagements in page lay-outs, cover designs, and color choices. Vividly describing a previously undocumented translocal visuality, Maasri extends the work of art historians who ask what pictures want, of anthropologists who probe materiality in the formation of affective horizons, and of social scientists who study globalization from below. Even people who do not yet know they are interested in the arts should read Maasri's lucid, nuanced study.' Kirsten Scheid, American University of Beirut'Maasri's book unearths reams of archival and printed material, suggesting that these changes occurred at a moment of generative aesthetic and political tension in Beirut, when a Western modernism brushed up against a pan-Arab nationalism … Running through Maasri's chapters is an attempt to decenter both 'the West' and 'the nation' in an evaluation of the period's visual culture - and in doing so, complicate the conventional understanding of this Arabic Modernism that saw Beirut as its capital.' Kaleem Hawa, Artforum'… Cosmopolitan Radicalism is a captivating and beautiful read, richly illustrated through both black and white figures throughout the text and colour plates at the centre of the book … It offers a good starting point to dive deeper into these trajectories and look at each of the actors involved - be it people, objects or institutions - in further detail.' Nadia von Maltzahn, H-Soz-Kult vonTable of ContentsIntroduction. Beirut in the global Sixties: design, politics and translocal visuality; 1. Dislocating the nation: Mediterraneanscapes in Lebanon's tourist promotion; 2. The hot Third World in the cultural Cold War: modernism, Arabic literary journals and US counterinsurgency; 3. The visual economy of 'precious books': publishing, modern art and the design of Arabic books; 4. Ornament is no crime: decolonising the Arabic page from Cairo to Beirut; 5. Art is in the 'Arab street': the Palestinian revolution and printscapes of solidarity; 6. Draw me a gun: radical children's books in the trenches of 'Arab Hanoi'; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisExploring the furthest reaches of the globe, Persian travelers from Iran and India travelled across Russian and Ottoman territories, to Asia, Africa, North and South America, Europe and beyond. Remapping the world through their travelogues, Reversing the Colonial Gaze offers a comprehensive and transformative analysis of the journeys of over a dozen of these nineteenth-century Persian travelers. By moving beyond the dominant Eurocentric perspectives on travel narratives, Hamid Dabashi works to reverse the colonial gaze which has thus far been cast upon these rich body of travelogues. His lyrical and engaging re-evaluation of these journeys, complimented by close-readings of seminal travelogues, challenges the systematic neglect of these narratives in scholarly literature. Opening up the entirety of these overlooked or abused travelogues, Dabashi reveals not a mere repetition of cliché accounts of Iranian or Muslim encounters with the West, but a path-breaking introduction to a constellTrade Review'In a series of fascinating vignettes, Dabashi gives us an enormously rich account of travellers from Iran and India who ethnographically recorded other cultures in Asia, Africa and Europe in the nineteenth century. In the process, he forcefully reminds us that the intellectual discovery of the world was not a uniquely Western virtue.' Partha Chatterjee, Columbia University'Offering us fascinating readings of Iranian and Indian travelogues, Dabashi charts out new spatial relationships, demonstrating how these writers created a global Persianate universe, which was typified by a mixture of literary and cultural traditions. The book celebrates and analyzes these creative worlds, reconstructing a rich tradition, which can serve as a much-needed antidote to narratives of origin and supremacy.' Lior Sternfeld, Pennsylvania State University'Via this rich exploration of hitherto little-studied examples of travel literature in Persian, Dabashi not only provides a framework for understanding a crucial transition period in the history of Iran in a global context, but also offers refreshing insights into ongoing debates on modernity and the role of orientalism.' Gabrielle van den Berg, Universiteit LeidenTable of Contents1. Mr Shushtari travels to India; 2. Mirza Abu Taleb travels from India; 3. An Ilchi wonders about the world; 4. A colonial officer is turned upside down; 5. A Shirazi shares his travelogues; 6. A wandering monarch; 7. Hajj Sayyah leads a peripatetic life; 8. In the company of a refined prince; 9. A wandering mystic; 10. In and out of a homeland; 11. The fact and fiction of a homeland; 12. Professor Sayyah comes home to teach.

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Book SynopsisTransnational Turkish Islam provides an overview of Turkish organized Islam in seven European countries. It shows how Turkish Islamic organizations have developed from typical migrant associations in the 1970s and 1980s into present-day European Islamic associations with their own cultural and religious specificities and agendas.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Islam and Politics in Turkey 2. Turkish Organized Islam in Europe 3. Diyanet 4. Süleymanl?s 5. Milli Görü? 6. Gülen-movement (Hizmet) 7. Alevis 8. Other Movements and Organizations Conclusion

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Book SynopsisIn 1917, the British issued the Balfour Declaration for military and strategic reasons. This book analyses why and how the British took on the Palestine Mandate. It explores how their interests and policies changed during its course and why they evacuated the country in 1948.During the first decade of the Mandate the British enjoyed an influx of Jewish capital mobilized by the Zionists which enabled them not only to fund the administration of Palestine, but also her own regional imperial projects. But in the mid-1930s, as the clouds of World War Two gathered, Britain's commitment to Zionism was superseded by the need to secure her strategic assets in the Middle East. In consequence she switched to a policy of appeasing the Arabs. In 1947, Britain abandoned her attempts to impose a settlement in Palestine that would be acceptable to the Arab States and referred Palestine to the United Nations, without recommendations, leaving the antagonists to settle their conflict on Trade ReviewMichael Cohen has written a comprehensive and fair-minded account of the Palestine mandate from the antecedents of the Balfour declaration in 1917 to the consequences of the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. The dominant themes are the contradictions of British rule and the military as well as the demographic aims of the Zionists to ‘make Palestine as Jewish as England was English’. His book will be used as a work of reference as well as a balanced judgment from all angles, Arab and American as well as British and Zionist. Readers will be especially interested in his interpretation of anti-Semitism, Arab collaboration with the Nazis, and the Holocaust in relation to the creation of the Jewish state. His command of archival and secondary sources establishes Britain’s Moment in Palestine as an essential work of research and interpretation.-- Professor Wm. Roger Louis holds the Kerr Chair of English History and Culture at the University of Texas, Austin, and is editor-in-chief of The Oxford History of the British EmpireSuperbly researched and meticulously written, this book is the result of extensive research on the history of the Palestine mandate from the Balfour Declaration (1917) to the establishment of the state of Israel (1948). Cohen (Bar-Ilan Univ., Israel), a prominent historian of the Middle East, examines this complex history with an impressive command of archival sources. In nearly 500 pages, he provides an extensive account about Britain’s changing policy in Palestine and how it contributed to the Arab-Zionist conflict. Readers will find discussions on a wide range of subjects, such as Britain’s early commitment to Zionism, the Holocaust, and the establishment of the state of Israel; the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and his relations with the Nazis; the Arab rebellions; Benito Mussolini’s policy in Palestine; and much more. A must read for students and scholars of British imperialism in the Middle East between the two war worlds. Summing Up: Essential. Most levels/libraries.--B. Rahimi, University of California San DiegoCHOICE, April 2015Michael Cohen has written a comprehensive and fair-minded account of the Palestine mandate from the antecedents of the Balfour declaration in 1917 to the consequences of the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. The dominant themes are the contradictions of British rule and the military as well as the demographic aims of the Zionists to ‘make Palestine as Jewish as England was English’. His book will be used as a work of reference as well as a balanced judgment from all angles, Arab and American as well as British and Zionist. Readers will be especially interested in his interpretation of anti-Semitism, Arab collaboration with the Nazis, and the Holocaust in relation to the creation of the Jewish state. His command of archival and secondary sources establishes Britain’s Moment in Palestine as an essential work of research and interpretation.-- Professor Wm. Roger Louis holds the Kerr Chair of English History and Culture at the University of Texas, Austin, and is editor-in-chief of The Oxford History of the British EmpireSuperbly researched and meticulously written, this book is the result of extensive research on the history of the Palestine mandate from the Balfour Declaration (1917) to the establishment of the state of Israel (1948). Cohen (Bar-Ilan Univ., Israel), a prominent historian of the Middle East, examines this complex history with an impressive command of archival sources. In nearly 500 pages, he provides an extensive account about Britain’s changing policy in Palestine and how it contributed to the Arab-Zionist conflict. Readers will find discussions on a wide range of subjects, such as Britain’s early commitment to Zionism, the Holocaust, and the establishment of the state of Israel; the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and his relations with the Nazis; the Arab rebellions; Benito Mussolini’s policy in Palestine; and much more. A must read for students and scholars of British imperialism in the Middle East between the two war worlds. Summing Up: Essential. Most levels/libraries.--B. Rahimi, University of California San DiegoCHOICE, April 2015Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1 Britain and Zionism: the Domestic Context 2 World War One: How Britain assumes the Palestine Mandate 3 Palestine and the Near East, 1919-1923 4 The Military Administration, 1918-1920 5 Colonial Palestine 6 Re-defining Policy in Palestine 7 1923: The Balfour Declaration Challenged 8 Paying for Empire in the 1920s 9 The Yishuv Economy in the 1920s 10 The Unravelling of the Mandate, 1929-31 11 The Arab Rebellion I: April-October 1936 12 The Arab Rebellion II: July 1937-39 13 Appeasement in the Middle East, 1937-39 14 World War Two: The Jews 15 The Allies, the Zionists and the Holocaust 16 World War Two: The British and the Arabs 17 The Arabs and Nazi Germany 18 The Mufti of Jerusalem in Berlin: 1941-1945 19 Why the British Left 20 The British Lose Control 21 Conclusion

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Book SynopsisConcealed within the walls of settlements along the Green-Line, the border between Israel and the occupied West-Bank, is a complex history of territoriality, privatisation and multifaceted class dynamics. Since the late 1970s, the state aimed to expand the heavily populated coastal area eastwards into the occupied Palestinian territories, granting favoured groups of individuals, developers and entrepreneurs the ability to influence the formation of built space as a means to continuously develop and settle national frontiers. As these settlements developed, they became a physical manifestation of the relationship between the political interest to control space and the ability to form it. Telling a socio-political and economic story from an architectural and urban history perspective, Gabriel Schwake demonstrates how this production of space can be seen not only as a cultural phenomenon, but also as one that is deeply entangled with geopolitical agendas.Trade Review'Dwelling on the Green Line takes us for a gripping ride along the Trans-Israel Highway running in parallel to the Green-Line and the West-Bank Separation Wall. By connecting between the dots of the Israeli settlements on both sides of these three lines – the highway, the wall, and Israel's official border – Gabriel Schwake reveals how the privatisation of housing development facilitates Israel's ongoing colonial project.' Dr Irit Katz, University of Cambridge'Israeli social scientists grapple since the 1980s' with the question of the relationship between its neo-colonial settlement policies and neo-liberal economic policies. Schwake provides a brilliant response: Israel's territorial politics works out through its class politics. The book thus offers a most sophisticated analysis of the convergence between national and social dynamics.' Uri Ram, Ben Gurion University of the Negev'Offering a valuable critical perspective on the relationships between privatisation processes and the production of settler-colonial space in Israel, this book, which is based on a rich and original empirical study, argues that privatisation of settlement development, the production of the built environment and the erection of infrastructure such as the Trans‐ Israel Highway large projects goes beyond Israel's economic growth, rather is a complementary tool of geopolitical expansion. Importantly, the book focusses on an overlooked territorial unit, namely the frontier with the occupied West‐Bank. This book is a must-read as in offers a productive lens to understand the territorial reality, spatial politics and social fragmentation of Israel while engaging with critical theory.' Haim Yacobi, University College LondonTable of ContentsPREFACE; 1. INTRODUCTION; 2. BACKGROUND; 3. [Neo]RURALISATION & THE COMMUNITY SETTLEMENT; 4. GENTRIFICATION & THE SUBURBAN SETTLEMENT; 5. MASS-SUBURBANISATION & THE STARS SETTLEMENT; 6. FINANCIALISATION & HARISH CITY; 7. CONCLUSIONS.

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Book SynopsisAnalysing the psychology of fourteen modern leaders from eight countries and three non-state organisations, Özgür Özdamar and Sercan Canbolat reconsider politics and power in the MENA region. Observing commonalities and differences between these leaders, the authors offer novel insights into their foreign policy and how best to negotiate with them.Trade Review'This book bears all the hallmarks of an instant classic. To what extent are the foreign policies of MENA nations influenced by the personalities and personal beliefs of their leaders? The authors answer that question with a wide-ranging operational code analysis of historical and contemporary MENA leaders. This volume will be of immense interest to scholars and foreign policymakers alike.' Valerie Hudson, Texas A&M University'This is a breakthrough in the study of leadership in the Middle East and North Africa. Operational code analysis is applied to gain insights into how political Islam and other factors shape foreign policy. The book is essential reading for scholars of MENA and international relations in general.' Patrick James, University of Southern California'This book is an excellent example of how combining foreign policy analysis with regional expertise sharpens the analysis of international relations. Özdamar and Canbolat put leaders front and centre to make significant contributions to our understanding of the dynamics in the region and to multiple areas of scholarship.' Julie Kaarbo, University of Edinburgh'The authors of this pathbreaking volume show how key operational code beliefs regarding the exercise of power vary across MENA leaders with the same ideology and between groups with different ideologies to account for their distinct foreign policy decisions and approaches to important regional and global issues in world politics.' Stephen G. Walker, Arizona State UniversityTable of Contents1. Political ideology and foreign policy decision-making in the Middle East and North Africa: an operational code approach; 2. Political Islam and Sunni ideology: Muslim Brotherhood leadership; 3. Political Islam and Shia ideology: Iranian and Iraqi leadership; 4. Secularist leaders in the Levant: Syrian, Israeli and Lebanese leadership; 5. Armed non-state actors' foreign policy: PKK, PYD, Hezbollah, and ISIS leaders in the Middle East and North Africa; 6. Leaders, foreign policy decision-making, and international relations; 7. Policy implications and future research; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisIn a radical reappraisal of Iran''s modern history, Ervand Abrahamian traces the country''s traumatic journey from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, through the discovery of oil, imperial interventions, the rule of the Pahlavis, and the birth of the Islamic Republic. The first edition was named the Choice Outstanding Academic Title in 2009. This second edition brings the narrative up to date, with the Green uprisings of 2009, the second Ahmadinejad administration, the election of Rouhani, and the Iran nuclear deal. Ervand Abrahamian, who is one of the most distinguished historians writing on Iran today, is a compassionate expositor, and at the heart of the book is the people of Iran, who have endured and survived a century of war and revolution.Trade Review'The book's greatest achievement is that it helps the reader to straightforwardly navigate historical events since late nineteenth century that have shaped today's Iran. [It] unquestionably is a distinguished reference for those looking for a beautifully written narrative of contemporary history of Iran.' Seyed Ali Alavi, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of LondonTable of ContentsIntroduction, 1. 'Royal despots': state and society under the Qajars; 2. Reform, revolution, and the Great War; 3. The iron fist of Reza Shah; 4. The nationalist interregnum; 5. Muhammad Reza Shah's White Revolution; 6. The Islamic Republic; Notes; Bibliography; Further reading; Index.

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Book SynopsisHow is the Israel/Palestine question narrated in Western academia? What ideas dominate the key textbooks on the subject and what is presented as ''truth''? This book answers these critical questions. It is widely known that Western support of Israel played a vital role in the realization of Zionist objectives in Palestine. But academic support of Israel in the West has been a neglected issue, with Western academic knowledge being regarded as impartial and objective. This book reveals that this understanding of Western academic knowledge is wrong when it comes to the Israel/Palestine question. Rather, knowledge has been biased, misleading, and dogmatic and Western college students are subscribing to factual histories' based on theories at best, if not fiction. The book is the first empirical investigation able to document this partial reporting of history. Seyed Hadi Borhani examines the most popular college-level textbooks used to teach the history of the Israel/Palestine in Western uTrade ReviewThis is an overdue and brilliant research into the battle of narratives on Palestine in Western Europe. Textbooks and educational curricula have for decades been loyal to the Israeli narrative and ignored the Palestinian suffering and struggle since 1948. This is a highly professional and incisive analysis of how knowledge production in West Europe shapes the power relations on the ground in Palestine. A must read for educationalists, academics at all levels and the wider audience who care about Palestine and the Palestinians. -- Ilan Pappe, University of Exeter, UKThis erudite, insightful and brilliant critical analysis of the politics of education and knowledge in the West fully meet the challenge of its pivotal research question, namely: The perplexing paradox of "how Western countries, the same countries that have established the widest and most influential civilization in history in all its post-Renaissance magnificence – its modern education, knowledge, democracy, rule of law and human rights in particular – could at the same time support such injustice in Israel-Palestine– a fundamental source of so much crime and misery in the Middle East. Critically exposing, demystifying and debunking the ideological, political – nay, normative personal - underpinning of Western knowledge when it comes to Israel, this work is a required entry in all academic Middle East history, politics and social science/education reading lists.' -- Dr Uri Davis, AL-QUDS University, PalestineThis is an important book, full of important material and measured in its judgments. A fascinating and indispensable contribution to the understanding of the relationship between politics and education. -- Shlomo Sand, Tel Aviv University, IsraelThe unprincipled, misguided support offered by western nations to Israel is far from an accident of history, or the result of the whims of this or that leader or politician; it is the result of long-term, racist and colonial attitudes persisting in western education systems, favouring the Zionist settler colonial project and denying the indigenous Palestinian narrative, as argued convincingly in this innovative work by Hadi Borhani -- Haim Bresheeth, SOAS, UKA valuable analysis of college textbooks that are educating – or in most cases, miseducating – American students on Israel-Palestine -- Alison Weir, USAThis book is well-researched and lucidly written to unravel the subtle biases in popular books used in teaching the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict in major English-speaking Western countries. This book is a must-read for scholars and the general audience unfamiliar with the sensitivities and sensibilities affecting the subject matter -- Ali R. Abootalebi, University of Wisconsin, USAHistory, it is often said, is written by the winners. Textbooks on Israel-Palestine shows how the academic narrative of that conflict – and the production, reproduction, and dissemination of knowledge of it – has become both blatantly and subconsciously political, skewing our understanding and retelling of it. This is a book of tremendous value. It should be read by all university professors teaching courses on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. -- Mehran Kamrava, Georgetown University Qatar, QatarDr Borhani’s study of the six books on the Israel/Palestine question most used by colleges in the UK and other Anglophone countries finds that all but one adopt the Israeli narrative of ‘return’. It is a significant contribution to our understanding of education and ‘public opinion’, and how both are formed and misinformed by scholarly bias. -- Rosemary Sayigh, author of Palestinians: From Peasants to RevolutionariesDespite the difference in our perspectives and my respectful disagreement with some of Professor Borhani’s assessments, it's clear that his book provides valuable information and many thoughtful insights. I strongly recommend it to readers, particularly instructors, with an interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- Mark Tessler, University of Michigan, USA“This book illuminates the Israeli success over the decades in manipulating the devastating story of how denials of Palestinian basic rights was partly accomplished by warping student minds forced to learn about the conflict through slanted textbooks validating the Zionist narrative. Such textbook propaganda is not a trivial sideshow as struggles of this kind are usually decided on the symbolic battlefields of the mind. Borhani’s book compels the reader to grasp why distorted storytelling functions as an insidious weapon of oppressors.” * Richard Falk, Princeton University, USA *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface: A Personal Story Foreword by Professor Ilan Pappé Acknowledgements Postscript: From that Thesis to this Book Prologue: A War on Western Textbooks Introduction Chapter 1 Textbooks and Theory Chapter 2 Western Textbooks: Pro- or Anti-Israeli? Chapter 3 The Survey of College Textbooks Chapter 4 Zionist Narration of the History Chapter 5 How College Textbooks Treat the History? Chapter 6 Who Narrates the History? Conclusion What Went Wrong in Western Textbooks Appendix Bibliography

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Book SynopsisLasting over 120 years, the Arab-Israeli conflict involves divergent narratives about history, national identities, land ownership, injustices and victimhood. Domestic forces and actors as well as international and regional dynamics have ensured the conflict's durability. A distinguished team of authors comprising an Israeli, a Palestinian and an Egyptian present a broader Arab perspective in this innovative textbook that offers a balanced and nuanced introduction to a highly contentious subject. Providing an overview of key developments in the history of the conflict, it explores attempts at resolution, before going on to portray the perspectives of the important parties. It places the events of the conflict within a regional and international context, providing an invaluable insight into the opposing narratives behind the conflict. The much-anticipated second edition of Arabs and Israelis includes:- Up-to-date coverage of key developments since the Arab Awakening, includinTrade ReviewThe tripartite approach of the authors – who write with one voice, rather than making independent contributions – is a powerful testament to the possibility of collaboration and compromise… for anyone craving a readable, no-nonsense analysis of the decades of this continuing crisis, it offers the key – a whole bunch of keys – to a new understanding. * Perspective Magazine *Written by a collection of Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian scholars, this is a broad and brilliantly executed discussion on the topic. It provides a wider context to the situation in Gaza, situating it within the complex and ever-shifting world of Middle Eastern politics. Views are well-balanced and considered, making this an essential read for anyone new to the subject. * Harper's Bazaar *Table of ContentsPreface About the Authors List of Illustrations Select Chronology: Key Moments in the Arab–Israeli Conflict,1516–2012 Introduction 1 The Formative Years 2 The Partitioning of Palestine: “Nakba” and Independence 3 Under the Cold War: The 1956 Sinai–Suez War 4 The 1967 War: The Victory and the “Naksa” 5 From Limited War to Limited Accommodation 6 Camp David and the Lebanon War 7 From the First Intifada to Madrid and Oslo 8 Failures of Implementation of the Madrid Conference 9 Oslo’s State-building and Peacemaking 10 The Failure of Permanent Status Negotiations 11 The Second Intifada 12 From the Second Lebanon War to the Arab Awakening 13 Conclusion – A Conflict that Never Ends? Appendix: Separation Barrier Map Index

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Book SynopsisThis book discusses some of the most urgent current debates over the study, commemoration, and politicization of the Holocaust through key critical perspectives. Omer Bartov adeptly assesses the tensions between Holocaust and genocide studies, which have repeatedly both enriched and clashed with each other, whilst convincingly arguing for the importance of local history and individual testimony in grasping the nature of mass murder. He goes on to critically examine how legal discourse has served to both uncover and deny individual and national complicity. Genocide, the Holocaust and Israel-Palestine outlines how first-person histories provide a better understanding of events otherwise perceived as inexplicable and, lastly, draws on the author's own personal trajectory to consider links between the fate of Jews in World War II and the plight of Palestinians during and in the aftermath of the establishment of the state of Israel. Bartov demonstrates that these five perspectives, Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction Part I Writing Atrocity 1. Historical Uniqueness and Integrated History 2. Eastern Europe as the Site of Genocide Part II Local History 3. Reconstructing Genocide on the Local Level 4. Testimonies as Historical Documents Part III Justice and Denial 5. The Holocaust in the Courtroom 6. Memory Laws as a Tool of Forgetting Part IV First Person Histories 7. H. G. Adler’s (Un)Bildungsroman 8. Leaving the Shtetl to Change the World Part V When Memory Comes 9. Return and Displacement in Israel-Palestine 10. My Twisted Path to Auschwitz, and Back 11. Building a Future by Telling the Past Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisInvestigates how leaders in Turkey's political sphere have hindered democratic consolidationTrade Review"Timed perfectly at the country's centennial, G m ?'s longitudinal study brilliantly unpacks the role of leaders in explaining the lack of democratic consolidation throughout Turkey's multi-party era. The book's individual focus on the authoritarian practices of democratically elected elites makes it a must-read for Turkey scholars, comparativists, and democracy-watchers alike.?" -Lisel Hintz, John Hopkins University SAIS

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Book SynopsisPresents a collection of Bernard Heyberger's studies in Middle Eastern Christianity for the first time in English, accompanied by an essay discussing the importance and legacy of his work and a comprehensive bibliography of his writings.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisPresents the most complete Persian edition and the first known English translation of the Durr al-Majlis

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Book SynopsisFor millennia, the culture of the ancient Egyptians has fascinated historians and spiritual seekers. The 20th anniversary edition of this seminal work includes all-new material analysing the progress in modern Egyptology

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Book SynopsisExamining a single broad tribal identity al-Azd from the immediate pre-Islamic period into the early Abbasid era, this book notes the ways it was continually refashioned over that time.

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Book SynopsisTransforming our understanding of Persian art, this impressive interdisciplinary book decodes some of the world's most exquisite medieval paintings.

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Book SynopsisGeoffrey Nash explores the emergence of the revolutionary Babis and reformist Baha'is and their conflict with mainstream Shi'a Muslims in Iran, and of the parallel Ahmadi movement in North India. Comparing these movements shows that, together, they define important aspects of Islamic modernity.Trade Review"This book represents a valuable contribution to the study of the Bahai faith and the Ahmadiyya movement, as well as a detailed analysis of minority movements' adoption of the coloniser's discourse on modernity and Islam." -Dr Reza Zia-Ebrahimi, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor of History, King's College London

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Book SynopsisExplores the ways in which Palestinians negotiate physical and symbolic erasures by producing their own archives and historical narratives

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Book SynopsisExplores the Turkish-German second generation's movement back to Turkey.

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Book SynopsisExplores the iconic illustrated periodical Molla? Nasreddin, whose editors, writers and illustrators were Azerbaijani Muslims and Georgians of South Caucasus

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisCollecting 635 meticulous recipes, Scents and Flavors invites us to savor an inventive cuisine that elevates simple ingredients by combining the sundry aromas of herbs, spices, fruits, and flower essences. This popular thirteenth-century Syrian cookbook is an ode to what its anonymous author calls the greater part of the pleasure of this life, namely the consumption of food and drink, as well as the fragrances that garnish the meals and the diners who enjoy them. Organized like a meal, it opens with appetizers and juices and proceeds through main courses, side dishes, and desserts, including such confections as candies based on the higher densities of sugar syrupan innovation unique to the medieval Arab world. Apricot beverages, stuffed eggplant, pistachio chicken, coriander stew, melon crepes, and almond pudding are seasoned with nutmeg, rose, cloves, saffron, and the occasional rare ingredient like ambergris to delight and surprise the banqueter. BookendeTrade ReviewAn extraordinary achievement, a brilliant translation of a very important work by an author who really understands cooking, and a valuable addition to our understanding of Middle Eastern culture and gastronomy. -- Claudia Roden, author of The New Book of Middle Eastern FoodAn extensive glossary, plus facing pages of the original Arabic text, make this a desirable reference work for scholars. * AramcoWorld *Hopefully, this cookbook can be made part of many library collections around the world, accessible to many Syrian chefs and food-lovers, wherever they may be. * Qantara.de *The book will interest epicures and cultural historians alike. * Islamic Horizons *We can learn a lot from an old cookbook. And the recent release of Scents and Flavors, a new translation from NYU Press's Library of Arabic Literature, provides a glimpse of social history that feels particularly timely. * FoodandWine.com *A significant scholarly contribution . . . Presented and framed in a way that renders it accessible to food scholars who work on other regions and cuisines . . . Provides a useful framing of the cookbook in the broader context of Middle Eastern culinary history, medieval Islamic medicine, and the specific sequencing and practices of feasting in thirteenth-century Syria. * Gastronomica *A good example of the best that can come out of a combination of quality scholarship and practical experience. * Journal of the American Oriental Society *Fun for history buffs and amateur chefs, the recipes making for a fantastic dinner party. * AlJazeera *

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Book SynopsisIn Decolonizing Palestine, Somdeep Sen rejects the notion that liberation from colonialization exists as a singular moment in history when the colonizer is ousted by the colonized. Instead, he considers the case of the Palestinian struggle for liberation from its settler colonial condition as a complex psychological and empirical mix of the colonial and the postcolonial. Specifically, he examines the two seemingly contradictory, yet coexistent, anticolonial and postcolonial modes of politics adopted by Hamas following the organization''s unexpected victory in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council election. Despite the expectations of experts, Hamas has persisted as both an armed resistance to Israeli settler colonial rule and as a governing body. Based on ethnographic material collected in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Israel, and Egypt, Decolonizing Palestine argues that the puzzle Hamas presents is not rooted in predicting the timing or process of its abanTrade ReviewSen's work, Decolonizing Pelestine - Hamas Between the Anticolonial and the Postcolonial is a powerful and well-argued presentation on Hamas' actions in Gaza. At the same time, he very thoughtfully extends his arguments as being part of the global system of settler-colonialism. * The Palestine Chronicle *The most refreshing aspect of Sen's book is that it adopts as its starting point the premise that Hamas is a movement fighting against Zionist settler colonialism and in so doing, against efforts, prevalent in the literature on the movement, to view Hamas as somehow exceptional or external to the Palestinian cause. By complicating the linear view of liberation, Sen does us the service of illustrating, using Hamas as a case study, that liberation is messy, iterative, and unpredictable. * The Middle East Journal *Decolonizing Palestine is a brilliant ethnography inquiring about the anticolonial violence and postcolonial statecraft in Palestine from the prism of the experience of Israel's settler colonialism in Gaza. [T]he volume provides a significant theoretical contribution to postcolonial studies by offering interesting insights into the ways in which a transnational discussion on the struggle for liberation can be framed, potentially connecting anticolonial and postcolonial experiences of people around the world fighting for their liberation in a meaningful process of exchange, solidarity and mutual learning. * The International Spectator *This tension between the forging of governmental authority by a nationalist bourgeoisie and a continuing anticolonial campaign, a liberationist struggle that spills over the bounds of nationalism, is at the heart of Somdeep Sen's thoughtful and generous Decolonizing Palestine. * The AAG Review of Books *This book offers a unique analysis of what is for many a puzzling area of Middle East politics:Hamas and its apparent, persistent motivations for violent conflict. Sen spent three years researching and listening in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and the region, and this effort is reflected in the very high quality of the work. Sen has given us a remarkably clear theoretical basis for understanding the contradictions of Hamas as both a resistance force and a nascent agent of governance. * Middle East Policy *Decolonizing Palestine serves as a corrective to accounts that imagine Hamas or Gaza as the main stumbling block in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict resolution attempts.Sen creates space to think about internal Palestinian politics independently, as well as in a global context that extends beyond Israel. * International Affairs *Table of Contents1. Decolonizing Palestine: An Introduction 2. On the Settler Colonial Elimination of Palestine 3. Palestinian Postcoloniality: A Legacy of the Oslo Accords 4. Anticolonial Violence and the Palestinian Struggle to Exist 5. Postcolonial Governance: Imagining Palestine 6. The Palestinian Moment of Liberation 7. On Liberation

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Book SynopsisIn recent decades, Palestinian heritage organizations have launched numerous urban regeneration and museum projects across the West Bank in response to the enduring Israeli occupation. These efforts to reclaim and assert Palestinian heritage differ significantly from the typical global cultural project: here it is people's cultural memory and living environment, rather than ancient history and archaeology, that take center stage. It is local civil society and NGOs, not state actors, who are "doing" heritage. In this context, Palestinian heritage has become not just a practice of resistance, but a resourceful mode of governing the Palestinian landscape. With this book, Chiara De Cesari examines these Palestinian heritage projects—notably the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, Riwaq, and the Palestinian Museum—and the transnational actors, practices, and material sites they mobilize to create new institutions in the absence of a sovereign state. Through their rehabilitation of Palestinian heritage, these organizations have halted the expansion of Israeli settlements. They have also given Palestinians opportunities to rethink and transform state functions. Heritage and the Cultural Struggle for Palestine reveals how the West Bank is home to creative experimentation, insurgent agencies, and resourceful attempts to reverse colonial violence—and a model of how things could be.Trade Review"Chiara De Cesari provides a creative and thoroughly researched account of the way space and the material reality of buildings have become an important, if also contradictory, site for Palestinian claims. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in cultural and architectural heritage, urban transformation, museums, or landscape—and how these are used to counter dispossession." -- Helga Tawil-Souri * New York University *"Chiara De Cesari boldly and creatively shows that politics does not always happen where we expect it to be. In this book, heritage emerges as a site of political mobilization, one in which Palestinian women do more than play a central part: They shape the idioms and create the very materiality in which the temporalities of struggle are woven through people's lives. Through the stories of activists, architects, and residents of Palestine, De Cesari makes a strong case for how Palestinian heritage can make claims and demands on the Israeli state." -- Ann Laura Stoler * The New School for Social Research *"This pathbreaking book links cultural heritage and the postcolonial condition in new and provocative ways. Chiara De Cesari's nuanced ethnography of Palestine reconfigures our understanding of the relationship between sovereignty and culture." -- John F. Collins * author of Revolt of the Saints: Memory and Redemption in the Twilight of Brazilian Racial Democracy *"De Cesari's rigorous analysis takes the reader through a web of complexities which show the different dynamics of heritage. A meticulous treatise indeed—the book makes for valuable reading, in particular when it comes to understanding the many layers of resistance against cultural dispossession and Israel's colonial violence." -- Ramona Wadi * The New Arab *"Chiara De Cesari's book on Palestine appears as a groundbreaking work that offers a different option for understanding how heritage is deployed in a proxy state, a political entity under siege, whose international sovereignty is still being renegotiated." -- Cheikh Lo * Journal of Folklore Research *"De Cesari argues convincingly that NGOs and museums are initiating processes of institutionalization and governance in the absence of a stable [Palestinian] state....This book provides an important opening for a critical discussion regarding the ways in which the word "Palestine" has not lost meaning." -- Rasmieyh R. Abdelnabi * Journal of Palestine Studies *"Chiara de Cesari's study is noteworthy for its acute analysis of the relations between cultural heritage and the nation-state, and for the thoroughness with which she examines this relationship in the case of Palestine." -- Rosemary Sayigh * Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies *"Heritage and the Cultural Struggle for Palestine is an illuminating study, useful for both a better understanding of life and struggles in Palestine, and for a broader discussion of the politics of heritage." -- Adi Kuntsman * International Journal of Middle East Studies *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction: The Stakes of Heritage and the Politics of Culture chapter abstractThe introduction opens with the story of the Palestinian heritage organization rehabilitating the occupied and colonized Old City of Hebron. This story encapsulates many facets of the book, particularly the relationship between heritage making and Palestinians laying claims to sovereignty (that is, resisting colonization) and instantiating provisional, improvised, resourceful forms of government. It lays out the key argument of the book that Palestinian heritage has transformed from a practice of resistance into a mode of "governing" the Palestinian landscape and society that is deeply connected to transnational regimes of development and a precarious if resourceful process of state building in the absence of a sovereign state. Finally, the introduction outlines the book's key theoretical concerns: how heritage functions in mutating colonial formations and as a form of anticolonial governmentality beyond the nation-state as well as the work of heritage as expanding transnational framework of practices and meanings. 1A Political History of Palestinian Heritage chapter abstractChapter 1 examines the history of heritage preservation in Palestine in the 20th century. It begins with the work of Palestinian orientalists and ethnographers under the British Mandate in the 1920s and 1930s, to analyze how they rework colonial science in the spirit of a nascent Palestinian cultural nationalism. It then focuses on the Folklore Movement of the 1970s and 1980s and particularly its connection to the national liberation movement and the women's movement as well as its practice of anticolonial resistance and activist preservation in the occupied territories. 2Government Through Heritage in Old Hebron chapter abstractChapter 2 discusses the project of historic conservation and urban revitalization in the Old City of Hebron, which remained under Israeli control after the Oslo Accords because of the presence of several Jewish settlements. The chapter explores informal governmentalities through heritage. Countering the settlers' takeover of the Old City, the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee has restored and repopulated a large part of the city's dilapidated central quarters. But in order to sustain livelihoods in difficult conditions, it has begun to work on socioeconomic development through a broad set of interventions, adopting the language and practices of international development. Over the years, with the Palestinian Authority not being able to work in the occupied Old City, the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee has come to function as a hybrid institution of local government. 3Heritage, NGOs, and State Making chapter abstractChapter 3 examines the state-building role of heritage NGOs and the complex relationship between these organizations and the heritage body of the Palestinian Authority (PA). It argues that the Palestinian heritage movement or "heritage by NGOs" helps create and sustain not only icons and rituals of cultural nationalism but also a national infrastructure of heritage preservation and a set of national institutions alternative to those of the PA, like inventories, heritage units, master plans, and laws. In addition to preserving Palestinian identity and reclaiming Palestinian lands, West Bank organizations wish to ameliorate the living conditions of historic districts' residents and villagers and so intervene in the spaces and habits of their everyday life. In so doing—and in the context of the PA's structural weakness—they experiment with a range of modes of planning and governance, and enact a form of resourceful statecraft from the margins of the state. 4Palestinian National Museums Post-Oslo chapter abstractPlacing heritage initiatives in the context of a broader cultural revival in the West Bank, Chapter 4 discusses the peculiar history of post-Oslo museums; if the Palestinian Authority has failed to create a major national museum—as a key institution of national representation—also due to a fundamental lack of objects and museum collections, Palestinian artists and cultural producers have instead experimented with different museum formats, creating virtual museums and nomadic museums in exile, thus producing creative national institutions in transnational spaces. These alternative museums walk a tightrope between establishing authority (as institutionality, as rules and regulations, as an authoritative museum voice) and challenging such authority to promote radical, democratic practices. Conclusion: Cultural Governmentality and Activist Statehood chapter abstractThe conclusion opens with an examination of the Islamic Movement and Palestinian activist preservation in Israel targeting the remains of the Palestinian villages depopulated in 1948 when the Israeli state was established. It compares this heritage work with the work of Palestinian NGOs in the West Bank, which have moved toward development and institution building, or a kind of activist statehood. The conclusion then makes an argument for the relevance of new forms of cultural governmentality and heritage-led development well beyond Palestine.

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Book SynopsisTaha Hussein (1889–1973) is one of Egypt's most iconic figures. A graduate of al-Azhar, Egypt's oldest university, a civil servant and public intellectual, and ultimately Egyptian Minister of Public Instruction, Hussein was central to key social and political developments in Egypt during the parliamentary period between 1922 and 1952. Influential in the introduction of a new secular university and a burgeoning press in Egypt—and prominent in public debates over nationalism and the roles of religion, women, and education in making a modern independent nation—Hussein remains a subject of continued admiration and controversy to this day. The Last Nahdawi offers the first biography of Hussein in which his intellectual outlook and public career are taken equally seriously. Examining Hussein's actions against the backdrop of his complex relationship with the Egyptian state, the religious establishment, and the French government, Hussam R. Ahmed reveals modern Egypt's cultural influence in the Arab and Islamic world within the various structural changes and political processes of the parliamentary period. Ahmed offers both a history of modern state formation, revealing how the Egyptian state came to hold such a strong grip over culture and education—and a compelling examination of the life of the country's most renowned intellectual.Trade Review"The Last Nahdawi is a breakthrough biography of one of the most important figures of modern Arab thought. Hussam R. Ahmed brings to light much new material about Taha Hussein's illustrious career and impressive oeuvre in a masterful, original, and important critical assessment of this towering intellectual."—Khaled Fahmy, University of Cambridge"In The Last Nahdawi Hussam R. Ahmed provides a lucid, insightful, and nuanced reassessment of Taha Hussein's key role in twentieth-century Egypt's cultural and political life. Anyone interested in modern Egypt will find this book of value."—Zachary Lockman, New York University"As we wonder about the role of the humanities today, The Last Nahdawi suggests that some solutions to our present predicament might be located in interwar and postcolonial Egypt. This brilliant work not only richly contextualizes a mesmerizing public intellectual, but pays homage to his humanity and his democratic vision of education and language."—Orit Bashkin, University of Chicago"The institutional approach adopted by Ahmed in The Last Nahdawi... adds much-needed nuance to Hussein's public positions by revealing the bureaucratic constraints and opportunities within which he operated. The book not only reveals the hidden side of Hussein's otherwise well-documented story but also elucidates the birth of Egypt's key cultural institutions from the interwar period, which has merited little attention by researchers. It is against this backdrop that Ahmed's book will hopefully spark new conversations in the field of Arab intellectual history on the ways in which cultural bureaucracies participate in thought production."—Giedrė Šabasevičiūtė, International Journal of Middle East Studies

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Book SynopsisEach year, billions of dollars are spent on global humanitarian health initiatives. These efforts are intended to care for suffering bodies, especially those of distressed children living in poverty. But as global medical aid can often overlook the local economic and political systems that cause bodily suffering, it can also unintentionally prolong the very conditions that hurt children and undermine local aid givers. Investigating medical humanitarian encounters in Egypt, Paradoxes of Care illustrates how child aid recipients and local aid experts grapple with global aid's shortcomings and its paradoxical outcomes. Rania Kassab Sweis examines how some of the world's largest aid organizations care for vulnerable children in Egypt, focusing on medical efforts with street children and out-of-school village girls. Her in-depth ethnographic study reveals how global medical aid fails to "save" these children according to its stated aims, and often maintains—or produces new—social disparities in children's lives. Foregrounding vulnerable children's responses to medical aid, Sweis moves past the unquestioned benevolence of global health to demonstrate how children must manage their own bodies and lives in the absence of adult care. With this book, she challenges readers to engage with the question of what medical caregivers and donors alike gain from such global humanitarian transactions.Trade Review"Medical humanitarianism has become the most prominent form of global health intervention. Based on the ethnographic study of several projects conducted with vulnerable children in Egypt, Paradoxes of Care uncovers, with tact and discernment, the complex and ambiguous effects of these benevolent actions as experienced by local aid workers as well as young recipients."—Didier Fassin, Institute for Advanced Study and Collège de France"This lucidly written book brings the robust anthropological critiques of global medical humanitarianism to bear on international organizations' attempts to help children in Egypt. Rania Kassab Sweis' clear analysis demonstrates the inherent paradoxes of seeking to save the 'vulnerable,' while leaving unchanged the structural conditions that produce those very vulnerabilities."—Sherine Hamdy, University of California, Irvine"This vivid and groundbreaking ethnography elevates the voices of Egypt's at-risk children, while deftly portraying the struggles of humanitarian actors to deliver aid amidst precarity. Paradoxes of Care is a must-read for those interested in medical humanitarianism, gender activism, and childhood studies in the Middle East and beyond."—Marcia C. Inhorn, Yale University"In [Paradoxes of Care]'s detaied ethnography of three nongovernmental organizations dedicated to providing medical care and health services to Egyptian children... Sweis illuminates both the global humanitarian industry and the lives of children in Egypt."—Lisa Anderson, Foreign Affairs"[Paradoxes of Care] is a valuable contribution to the field of charity and medical aid and to the cross-cultural study of children. Recommended."—M. L. Russell, CHOICE

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Book SynopsisMedia of the Masses investigates the social life of an everyday technology—the cassette tape—to offer a multisensory history of modern Egypt. Over the 1970s and 1980s, cassettes became a ubiquitous presence in Egyptian homes and stores. Audiocassette technology gave an opening to ordinary individuals, from singers to smugglers, to challenge state-controlled Egyptian media. Enabling an unprecedented number of people to participate in the creation of culture and circulation of content, cassette players and tapes soon informed broader cultural, political, and economic developments and defined "modern" Egyptian households. Drawing on a wide array of audio, visual, and textual sources that exist outside the Egyptian National Archives, Andrew Simon provides a new entry point into understanding everyday life and culture. Cassettes and cassette players, he demonstrates, did not simply join other twentieth century mass media, like records and radio; they were the media of the masses. Comprised of little more than magnetic reels in plastic cases, cassettes empowered cultural consumers to become cultural producers long before the advent of the Internet. Positioned at the productive crossroads of social history, cultural anthropology, and media and sound studies, Media of the Masses ultimately shows how the most ordinary things may yield the most surprising insights.Trade Review"Andrew Simon's masterful history of the cassette crystallizes the crucial importance of technology. Media of the Masses is methodologically innovative, working through materials that were part of everyday life, but rarely present in archives. Important for historians of modern Egypt, and a stellar contribution to the history of new media."—Walter Armbrust, University of Oxford"When much thinking about media focuses on technologies of the future, Andrew Simon's Media of the Masses is a refreshing look at the near past, when palm-sized cartridges decentralized communication decades before satellites or the internet entered our daily lives. An important contribution to Arab media studies and the history of technology."—Marwan Kraidy, Northwestern University in Qatar"Media of the Masses provides a new lens through which we can understand the history of Egyptian media—the once-ubiquitous technology of cassette tapes. Andrew Simon's 'mixtape' approach offers insightful analysis and paints a rich picture useful for scholars and students alike."—Laura Bier, Georgia Institute of Technology"Andrew Simon's new book, Media of the Masses: Cassette Culture in Modern Egypt... looks at the cassette tape as a mode of understanding Egypt's history during [the] 1970s and 1980s. Moving from homes to shops, and from singers to listeners, the book demonstrates how the cassette, an artifact that became immensely popular in the Middle East in these years, undid state power and the division between public and private."—Orit Bashkin, Issues in Middle East Studies"In this social history of music and technology, Simon demonstrates how audiocassettes allowed ordinary Egyptians to challenge the power of state-controlled media. It is the story of how a common piece of technology can have an extraordinary impact on culture, politics, and the lives of the people who use it."—Christina Dolan, Vermont Standard"Andrew Simon approaches the world of Egyptian cassettes primarily as a social historian in this ingenious and enlightening book, one that is, moreover, an enormous pleasure to read....Whether listening, looking, reading, recalling encounters with his Egyptian interlocutors, or describing his walks around downtown Cairo, his prose buzzes with life and with sounds—as appropriate a tribute to its object as one could possibly wish."—Martin Stokes, Journal of World Popular Music"This is an extraordinarily rich and exciting read."—Avery Weinman, New Books Network"In Media of the Masses, Andrew Simon tells a compelling story of how audiocassettes transformed Egypt in the 1970s and '80s. By allowing a greater number of people not just to access audio content but also to produce and distribute it, cassettes were at the center of a new popular consumer culture. Simon tells this story through vivid vignettes that shine a light into the role of technology in everyday life."—Arthur Asseraf, Technology and Culture"Media of the Masses fills the gaps of historiographical elisions past."—Mariam Elnozahy, The Markaz Review"Simon's book offers a closer people's perspective of Egyptian culture and memory through cassette technology."—Ramona Wadi,The New Arab"The book's framework gives prominence not only to media technologies but also, crucially, to artists and their music. In so doing, it sheds new light on Egypt's sociopolitical, cultural, and economic developments from the 1970s through the 1990s and beyond."—Olga Verlato,Borderlines"This book will captivate anyone interested in the history of technology, mass media, or popular culture."—Lee Vinsel, Peoples & Things"[Simon] shows how the humble cassette turned into a lightning rod in a country undergoing major changes."—Peter Holslin,Passion of the Weiss"By examining the history of the cassette tape and cassette players in Egypt, Media of the Masses considers much larger historical developments, including political change, labor migration, the refashioning of Egyptian homes, crime, and censorship.... Recommended."—M. L. Russell, CHOICE"By the end of Media of the Masses, Andrew Simon has deftly pivoted from the importance of audio to the vitality of all the mundane but essential objects in our environment—the things that are always thereso much so that we don't often see or hear them anymore."—Marc Masters, Los Angeles Review of Books

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Book SynopsisIn the late nineteenth century, the Ottoman government sought to fill landscapes they legally defined as "empty." Both land and people were incorporated into territorially bounded grids of administrative law. Bedouin Bureaucrats examines how tent-dwelling, seasonally migrating Bedouin engaged in these processes of Ottoman state transformation on local, imperial, and global scales. As the "tribe" became a category of Ottoman administration, Bedouin in the Syrian interior used this category both to gain political influence and to organize community resistance to maintain control over land. Narrating the lives of Bedouin individuals involved in Ottoman administration, Nora Elizabeth Barakat brings this population to the center of modern state-making, from their involvement in the pilgrimage administration in the eighteenth century and their performance of land registration and taxation as the Ottoman bureaucracy expanded in the nineteenth, to their eventual rejection of Ottoman attempts to reallocate the "empty land" they inhabited in the twentieth. She places the Syrian interior in a global context of imperial expansion into regions formerly deemed marginal, especially in relation to American and Russian empires. Ultimately, the book illuminates Ottoman state formation attempts within Bedouin communities and the unique trajectory of Bedouin in Syria, who maintained their control over land.Trade Review"Bedouin Bureaucrats is a marvel. It is necessary reading for anybody interested in the complexities of state-building, governance, and sovereignty. Nora Barakat has given us a book that will be debated and admired for years to come."—Pekka Hämäläinen, author of Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America"A remarkable feat. Nora Barakat guides us through the contingencies of modern transformation, with an eye for global implications beyond Ottomans down to the present. Truly a ground-breaking work, it is a must-read for anybody interested in global micro-history, and in new ways of writing history."—Huricihan Islamoglu, Bogaziçi University"Through rigorous research and exceptional prose, Nora Barakat shows how Bedouin chiefs participated in the creation of new state structures to ensure their power and privilege and the long-term survival of their communities. Bedouin Bureaucrats convinces us to rethink our assumptions about tribes and their place in the modern Middle East."—Reşat Kasaba, University of Washington"Bedouin Bureaucrats presents a compelling case that seasonally migrating Bedouin were crucial players in modern Ottoman governance, state building, and economic development.... Recommended."—R. A. Miller, CHOICETable of ContentsIntroduction: Introduction Chapter One: Beyond the Tribal Frontier Chapter Two: Commercial Capital in the Syrian Interior Chapter Three: Producing Tribes and Property Chapter Four: Bureaucracy in Crisis Chapter Five: Taxation, Property, and Citizenship Conclusion: Conclusion

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Book SynopsisIn the late nineteenth century, the Ottoman government sought to fill landscapes they legally defined as "empty." Both land and people were incorporated into territorially bounded grids of administrative law. Bedouin Bureaucrats examines how tent-dwelling, seasonally migrating Bedouin engaged in these processes of Ottoman state transformation on local, imperial, and global scales. As the "tribe" became a category of Ottoman administration, Bedouin in the Syrian interior used this category both to gain political influence and to organize community resistance to maintain control over land. Narrating the lives of Bedouin individuals involved in Ottoman administration, Nora Elizabeth Barakat brings this population to the center of modern state-making, from their involvement in the pilgrimage administration in the eighteenth century and their performance of land registration and taxation as the Ottoman bureaucracy expanded in the nineteenth, to their eventual rejection of Ottoman attempts to reallocate the "empty land" they inhabited in the twentieth. She places the Syrian interior in a global context of imperial expansion into regions formerly deemed marginal, especially in relation to American and Russian empires. Ultimately, the book illuminates Ottoman state formation attempts within Bedouin communities and the unique trajectory of Bedouin in Syria, who maintained their control over land.Trade Review"Bedouin Bureaucrats is a marvel. It is necessary reading for anybody interested in the complexities of state-building, governance, and sovereignty. Nora Barakat has given us a book that will be debated and admired for years to come."—Pekka Hämäläinen, author of Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America"A remarkable feat. Nora Barakat guides us through the contingencies of modern transformation, with an eye for global implications beyond Ottomans down to the present. Truly a ground-breaking work, it is a must-read for anybody interested in global micro-history, and in new ways of writing history."—Huricihan Islamoglu, Bogaziçi University"Through rigorous research and exceptional prose, Nora Barakat shows how Bedouin chiefs participated in the creation of new state structures to ensure their power and privilege and the long-term survival of their communities. Bedouin Bureaucrats convinces us to rethink our assumptions about tribes and their place in the modern Middle East."—Reşat Kasaba, University of Washington"Bedouin Bureaucrats presents a compelling case that seasonally migrating Bedouin were crucial players in modern Ottoman governance, state building, and economic development.... Recommended."—R. A. Miller, CHOICETable of ContentsIntroduction: Introduction Chapter One: Beyond the Tribal Frontier Chapter Two: Commercial Capital in the Syrian Interior Chapter Three: Producing Tribes and Property Chapter Four: Bureaucracy in Crisis Chapter Five: Taxation, Property, and Citizenship Conclusion: Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe United States integrated counterterrorism mandates into its aid flows in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the early years of the global war on terror. Some two decades later, this securitized model of aid has become normalized across donor intervention in Palestine. Elastic Empire traces how foreign aid, on which much of the Palestinian population is dependent, has multiplied the sites and means through which Palestinian life is regulated, surveilled, and policed—this book tells the story of how aid has also become war. Drawing on extensive research conducted in Palestine, Elastic Empire offers a novel accounting of the US security state. The US war chronicled here is not one of tanks, grenades, and guns, but a quieter one waged through the interlacing of aid and law. It emerges in the infrastructures of daily life—in a greenhouse and library, in the collection of personal information and mapping of land plots, in the halls of municipal councils and in local elections—and indelibly transfigures lives. Situated in a landscape where the lines between humanitarianism and the global war on terror are increasingly blurred, Elastic Empire reveals the shape-shifting nature of contemporary imperial formations, their realignments and reformulations, their haunted sites, and their obscured but intimate forms.Trade Review"Elastic Empire is an utterly brilliant piece of research. Lisa Bhungalia fluently and beautifully uses theoretical elaborations of plasticity and malleability of empire to show the interconnections between the aid industry and settler colonial and imperial violence."—Laleh Khalili, author of Time in the Shadows: Confinement in Counterinsurgencies"Into the well-studied terrain of contemporary Palestine and Israel, Lisa Bhungalia has produced a book of stunning originality. Through wide-ranging and incisive analysis, she explains how ever more highly securitized models of foreign aid adversely affect Palestinians. Aid, she argues, is war by other means."—Lisa Hajjar, author of The War in Court: Inside the Long Fight against Torture"Elastic Empire offers a riveting portrait of the quiet administration of violence. Lisa Bhungalia maps US shadow wars carried out through the daily work of aid and state terror in Palestine. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the intimacies of US empire and the topological tentacles of counterterrorism law."—Alison Mountz, author of The Death of Asylum: Hidden Geographies of the Enforcement ArchipelagoTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. War Through Law 2. Elastic Sovereignty 3. Work of the List 4. Afterlives and Reverberations 5. Asphyxiatory Violence Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe Persian Gulf has long been a contested spacean object of imperial ambitions, national antagonisms, and migratory dreams. The roots of these contestations lie in the different ways the Gulf has been defined as a region, both by those who live there and those beyond its shore. Making Space for the Gulf reveals how capitalism, empire-building, geopolitics, and urbanism have each shaped understandings of the region over the last two centuries. Here, the Gulf comes into view as a created space, encompassing dynamic social relations and competing interests.Arang Keshavarzian writes a new history of the region that places Iran, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula together within global processes. He connects moments more often treated as rupturesthe discovery of oil, the Iranian Revolution, the rise and decline of British empire, the emergence of American powerand crafts a narrative populated by a diverse range of peoplemigrants and ruling families, pearl-divers and star arch

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Book SynopsisBestsellers and masterpieces: The changing medieval canon addresses the strange fact that, in both European and Middle Eastern medieval studies, those texts that we now study and teach as the most canonical representations of their era were in fact not popular or even widely read in their day. On the other hand, those texts that were popular, as evidenced by the extant manuscript record, are taught and studied with far less frequency. The book provides cross-cultural insight into both the literary tastes of the medieval period and the literary and political forces behind the creation of the ‘modern canon’ of medieval literature.Trade Review'The essays [...] invite the reader to consider the pre-modern and modern cultural milieu that led to specific works’ genesis and, centuries later, privileged position in the canon and to consider a place for once widely-transmitted works that have since been marginalized—two intellectual ventures that will undoubtedly enhance scholarship and undergraduate curricula.' Arthuriana -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction - Heather Blurton and Dwight F. ReynoldsPart I: Hanging by a thread: unique manuscripts and their place in the ‘modern’ medieval canon1. Contemplating books with Usama ibn Munqidh’s Book of Contemplation – Paul M. Cobb2. Dons and dragons: Beowulf and ‘popular reading’ – Daniel C. Remein and Erica Weaver3. Ibn ?azm’s ?awq al-?amama (The Neck-Ring of the Dove) – Boris Liebrenz4. 'Thirty pieces of silver': interpreting anti-Jewish imagery in the Poema de mio Cid manuscript – Ryan D. Giles5. ‘Let no bad song be sung of us’: fame, memory and transmission in/and the Chanson de Roland – Sharon KinoshitaPart II: Medieval bestsellers: reading the ‘medieval canon’?6. World literature and its discontents: reading the life of A?iqar – Daniel L. Selden7. The Alexander Romance in the age of scribal reproduction: the aesthetics and precariousness of a popular text – Shamma Boyarin8. Wisdom literature and the medieval bestsellers – Karla Mallette9. Lost worlds: encyclopedism and riddles in the tale of Tawaddud/Theodor – Christine ChismIndex

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