Featured Research
Defining, operationalising and translating ‘vulnerability’ in humanitarian work in Jordan (Lewis Turner)
‘Vulnerability’ saturates contemporary humanitarian discourse and practice in English. But how is ‘vulnerability’ operationalised and translated – both literally and figuratively – and what can these dynamics tell us about the humanitarian system? Drawing on an extensive engagement with humanitarianism in Jordan, this article explores how ‘vulnerability’ is turned from a ubiquitous designator of need to an operationalizable indicator in humanitarian assessments, how ‘vulnerability’ overlaps and collides with national systems for determining need and targeting, and how the idea of ‘vulnerability’ is communicated in Arabic.
The collective and individual expressions of humour in social media spaces: insights from the socio-political context of Jordan after the 2011 Arab Spring (Yousef Barahmeh)
This article seeks to establish a theoretical framework for considering how the collective and individual expressions of humour in social media spaces have been used and presented in the socio-political context of Jordan after the 2011 Arab Spring. This framework moves from the collective to the individual and makes Mikhail Bakhtin and Sigmund Freud complementary to the study of Jordanian social media humour after the Arab Spring.
Where is Palestine in Critical Terrorism Studies? A roundtable conversation
Our ethical responsibilities as researchers within or related to the study of “terrorism” could not be clearer than in moments when the “terrorism” label is used to justify mass killing and destruction. The state of Israel has relentlessly continued to bombard Gaza since 7 October 2023 and, with the support of Western nations, built consensus around framing all Palestinians as (potential) terrorists. In light of the horrors that the world is witnessing today, and the lack of engagement with Palestine in Critical Terrorism Studies research, we ask, how does – and should - Palestine feature in Critical Terrorism Studies scholarship?
Israel, Gaza and the Politics of Palliative Peace: Colonialism, (de)mobilization and why the Two-State Solution is made to Fail (Andrea Teti)
This brief piece picks apart selected standard narratives about the war on Gaza which Western media and governments use to describe the unprecedented devastation since October 7th. The analysis sketches how key characteristics of the Palestine/Israel question’s colonial roots and post-independence regimes’ strategies of power explains these contradictions and how they lead to ‘palliative’ peace processes which defer structural solutions rather than advance them.
Mapping methodological nationalism in Middle Eastern studies: Toward a transnational understanding of the 2011 Arab uprisings? (Jonas Nabbe)
This article assesses the prevalence and implications of the research foci methodological nationalism, methodological globalism, and transnationalism in publications regarding the 2011 Arab uprisings. We propose a new typology that contrasts state-centered methodological nationalism with the cosmopolitan lens of methodological globalism as two opposite ends of a spectrum.
Cutting the Keys to the Mediterranean: Tunisia in the context of Migration (Brendan Van Crout)
My name is Brendan Van Crout, a final-year International Relations undergraduate at the University of Exeter. From 11 to 20 April, I had unprecedented access to NGOs, academics and citizens’ movements that deal with migration, particularly in the state of Tunisia and the wider Middle East and North Africa region. I will discuss my experiences and thoughts from a short but intensive trip to Tunisia.
Access Denied: A qualitative Study on transgender health policy in Egypt (Nora Noralla)
For this paper, I conducted an interdisciplinary qualitative study to investigate transgender experiences accessing gender-affirming healthcare (GAH) in Egypt. I outline how the current health policy on GAH was developed and its negative impact, celebrating the resilience of transgender people in navigating the hostile anti-transgender environment, and conclude by offering some health policy recommendations to improve the GAH situation.
Non-State Actors and Foreign Policy Agency: Insights from Area Studies (Co-edited by Marianna Charountaki, Christos Kourtelis and Daniela Irrera)
This edited volume discusses non-state actors as agents of foreign policy. It questions whether non-state actors can act as foreign policy makers and if the contemporary role of non-state actors constitutes a theoretical challenge to foreign policy. Chapters demonstrate the impact of non-state entities through the lenses of their direct role as decision-makers, with examples drawn from the African continent, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life: New Frontiers in Science and Religion (Co-edited by Jörg Matthias Determann and Shoaib Ahmed Malik)
Over the last thirty years, humanity has discovered thousands of planets outside of our solar system. The discovery of extraterrestrial life could be imminent. This book explains how such a discovery might impact Islamic theology. It is the foundational reference on the subject, comprising a variety of different insights from both Sunni and Shi’i positions, from different Muslim contexts, and with chapters that compare and contrast Islamic perspectives with Christianity.
Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the Power Struggle over ‘Muslimness’: Reification, Securitization, and Identification (Jérémy Dieudonné)
This paper questions the apparent hostility between Iran and Saudi Arabia and highlights its discursive construction. It explores the centrality of ‘Muslimness’ in both countries’ discourses and how it both shapes and is shaped by their opposition. At the same time, it seeks to uncover how these discourses construct a specific regional and ‘Muslim’ dynamic.
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