Gender in the Politics of Uprisings

Ahmed Al Rawi’s publishing, “Framing the online women’s movements in the Arab world”, was brilliantly written. While it was a research paper, and those are expected to be objective, I truly appreciated the manner in which it was written in. Like Maya Mikdashi’s articles highlighted, most studies pertaining to feminism are done so in a …

A Global Perspective

“New Paradigms of Popular Sovereignty in the Wake of the Arab Uprisings” The Amar piece, “New Paradigms of Popular Sovereignty in the Wake of the Arab Uprisings,” struck my interest as it speaks to the global perspective I have been studying the last few years. Amar discusses the multitude of perspectives focused on by those …

The Arab Spring and how to Represent it with Art

In Omar Kholeif’s article he explores the various pressures put on artists to represent uprisings in their work. It’s interesting to think about how something like the Arab Spring necessitates representation in the artist community, and the “right” ways to do. This debate is one that can be thought about in relation to many other …

Art and the Revolution

In Omar Kholeif’s article,  “The Social Impulse: Politics, Media, and Art after the Arab Uprisings,” writes about the role of art and artists in critical situations such as the uprisings in the Middle East. Kholeif notes that despite the artists’ intentions, their work is often interpreted as a commentary on the revolutions and uprisings themselves. …

A battle for power and control

In, Fractured Lands: How the Arab World Came Apart, Scott Anderson writes a compelling piece on some of the causes that led to the upheaval in the Middle East such as the Iraq War and the rise of ISIS in recent years. First, I think the title itself is a little misleading. I think for …