Middle East - Topics & Arguments: Mitteilungen
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003
<p>META's geographical focus is the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). The journal is concerned with the states of Northern Africa and West Asia.</p>de-DEMETA Journal is closing down
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/68
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After a 7-year journey as an Open-Access Journal, it is with utmost regret that Middle East - Topics & Arguments (META) is closing down. Including the issue on Gender published in July 2020, META has produced a total of 14 issues since its inception in 2013. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We want to thank the Centre for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS) at Philipps University Marburg, and the German Research Foundation (DFG), which both have supported us in building up (and upon) a community around and through this journal for these years, and in funding our endeavor of creating a truly interdisciplinary journal.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The discontinuation of institutional and financial support, as well the limits to our very own capacities, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">have led us to put an end to the work and mission we have developed through META over the years. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The interdisciplinary nature of META--which is warranted through the curatorial idea of theme-based issues that focus on illuminating a single key concept </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">throughout the various issue sections ranging from interviews and anti-thesis arguments--</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">has always required additional labor relative to more traditional journals, and strong support from all seven disciplinary departments of the CNMS. We are aware that these conditions are not unique to META, but rather paradigmatic for the situation that many other scholar-led journals face. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is therefore with a heavy heart that we take the decision to discontinue the journal.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> In order to stay true to our approach of working cooperatively and in an interdisciplinary manner within the framework we collectively created, we do not see any other option than to close down the operation of META - for the time being.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We are grateful to have had the chance and experience of starting, editing and developing a journal and we would like to take this moment to thank our colleagues, readers, authors, reviewers, proof-readers, IT support, advisors and editors for their support and commitment over the years. Without you, META would not have existed at all.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With this statement, the present editorial board is stepping down and META Journal is closed. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We are planning to archive META at the University and State Library Saxony-Anhalt (ULB), in cooperation with </span><a href="http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de"><span style="font-weight: 400;">MENAdoc</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the specialized information service for Middle East, North Africa and Islamic Studies. All content is accessible on our website </span><a href="http://meta-journal.net/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">meta-journal.net</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> until further notice.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To new beginnings!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">META Editorial Collective</span></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2020-12-14call for papers #14
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/46
<p><strong>call for papers #14 - Gender</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Editors: Ines Braune, Angela Krewani, Walaa Said (all Philipps-Universität Marburg)</p> <p> </p> <p>Publication Date: Spring 2020</p> <p> </p> <p>The peer-reviewed online journal “Middle East – Topics and Arguments” (META) is calling for submissions for its fourteenth issue, which will be entitled <strong>Gender.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Facing recent events and upheavals in the Arab World, this issue of META intends to conceptualize the category of gender in the context of changing social, political, and ideological configurations. Special attention will be given the collective protests that took over the Arab world in 2010 and 2011 and the second wave in Sudan and Algeria in 2019, when women and men claimed freedom and dignity side by side. The visibility of women in public spaces rekindles the ambiguous relation between feminism, patriarchy, and nationalism. It underscores the fluidity of borders that cuts across traditional concepts of bodies and voices and their respective spaces and opens political discourses for new diverse arrangements.</p> <p>In the context of these upheavals, violence is an important aspect to consider. Although the protests had intended to be peaceful, violence was always present. This points to a systematized use of violence based on gender vulnerabilities. Governmental violence is not only thought to control protesting bodies in public spaces, it also controls bodies’ sexualities and sex orientations using accusations of “public indecency” and “inciting immorality”. These forms of sexualized and governmental violence contradict the presence of women as fighters in the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. We can observe the emergence of female militias, jihadists, and suicide bombers, as well as activist-heroes (e.g. Nadia Murad) and victims (e.g. the abuse of Yazidi women and children). At the same time, questions arise of the masculinity of the soldiers dragging the “blue-bra woman” in Egypt and of the appearance of violent popular suburban male heroes in TV series. These performances reassess the interplay between roles of femininity and masculinity in the wars and upheavals in the MENA region and modify traditional concepts of gender.</p> <p>In this issue, we aspire to attract papers that go beyond classifying events of people’s demonstrations as ruptures or dichotomies of failure and success. We instead seek to perceive those events that include most of the Arab countries as a continuation of the decolonization process in a post-independence era, to observe the imploding of the old frameworks, and to scrutinize the reciprocity between the political and gendered body apart from men/women binaries to open the field to see gender empowerment in flux.</p> <p>In this conceptual realm, we are interested in papers that look at gender relations as dynamic spaces establishing new political and/or ideological regimes in different historical periods and different spaces. Contrary to essentialist notions of gender, gender is understood here as being brought about by social and cultural norms and being constructed through historical and current discourses. Understanding gender as a productive category in the study of power relations, the publication is looking for practices and theoretical approaches, including queer theory, in order to look at how regimes try to establish their hegemonic approaches via the regulation of gendered bodies and at subversive answers to it.</p> <p>We are interested in textual and visual representations of gender relations; this can include artistic productions as well as everyday life practices that reflect, negotiate, and subvert new forms of gendered hegemony. Against the background of the practical and material turn, we invite papers that include ideas of “practices”, “objects”, and “infrastructures”.</p> <p>An additional focus will be the intersectional relationships of gender. Although the Arab world is often perceived through a gendered perspective, other aspects – including social or ethnic backgrounds, class, national affiliations, generation, etc. – are relevant to explaining inequality and insecurity.</p> <p>We are seeking articles from different disciplines that involve the Near and Middle East and North Africa, including history, ethnography, comparative literature, media studies, sociology, political science, and others.</p> <p> </p> <p>Papers presenting new and original research findings on the issue’s topic will be published in the journal’s FOCUS section. Articles in this section should be between 2,800 and 4,600 words. In addition to papers for the main section, we call for contributions for META journal’s special sections:</p> <p> </p> <p>The META section also relates to the issue’s focus topic, with papers discussing gender from a theory-centered perspective or articles that go beyond the Middle East. Articles in this section should be between 2,800 and 4,600 words.</p> <p> </p> <p>The CLOSE UP section features a short written portrait of a person, institution, or object that has a special relation to the issue’s main topic, e.g. a researcher, an activist, an event, or any object that has shaped the discussion of gender in the MENA region. Article length is 1,500 to 3,000 words.</p> <p> </p> <p>The ANTI/THESIS section juxtaposes two rivaling positions that highlight different lines of argument, pros and cons, and/or competing narratives. These can be presented either together by one author or by two authors in two different articles. Article length for each article is 1,500 to 3,000 words.</p> <p> </p> <p>Articles that fall into the general framework of the journal, but do not relate to the special topic <strong>Gender</strong>, can be taken into consideration for the OFF TOPIC section: <a href="mailto:offtopic@metajournal.net">offtopic@metajournal.net</a></p> <p> </p> <p>Before developing a complete manuscript, authors are asked to submit an <strong>abstract</strong> (max. 300 words), a <strong>short CV</strong> (max. 150 words), and <strong>3-5 key bibliographic sources</strong>. Please clearly indicate the research question, the method to be used, and the empirical material your research will be based on.</p> <p> </p> <p>The editors will make a preliminary decision regarding the topic’s relevance to the journal’s aim and scope and may provide suggestions for developing the manuscript, at the latest four weeks after the proposal submission deadline.</p> <p>All manuscripts must adhere to our <a href="https://meta-journal.net/0003/cnms/doc/META_StyleSheet.pdf">stylesheet</a> and will not be taken into consideration if they exceed the stated word count. All manuscripts published with META journal are <a href="https://meta-journal.net/about#peer-review">peer reviewed, </a>according to a <a href="https://meta-journal.net/0003/cnms/doc/META_Guide_for_Reviewers.pdf">review guideline</a> on which the reviews should be based. The process is open by choice; author(s) and reviewers choose whether to reveal their own names.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>The deadline for abstract submissions is July 15<sup>th</sup>, 2019</strong></p> <p><strong>The deadline for article submissions is October 15<sup>th</sup>, 2019</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Proposals, manuscripts, and other editorial correspondence should be sent to:</p> <p><a href="mailto:submissions14@meta-journal.net">submissions14@meta-journal.net</a></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2019-05-28META sucht Mitstreiter*innen
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/38
<p><span style="font-family: HelveticaNeue;">Das Open Access Journal Middle East - Topics & Arguments (META) ist im Jahr 2012 als Projekt des Mittelbaus am Centrum für Nah- und Mitteloststudien (CNMS) in Marburg gestartet. Mittlerweile haben wir 10 Hefte veröffentlicht, sind international vertreten und befinden uns in der zweiten Förderphase durch die DFG. </span><span style="font-family: HelveticaNeue;">Eines unserer Hauptprojekte ist die technische Weiterentwicklung von Open Access Redaktions- und Publikationssoftware. </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: HelveticaNeue;">J</span><span style="font-family: HelveticaNeue;">etzt suchen wir einen Menschen, der Spaß an Technik hat, an der Weiterentwicklung im Open Source Bereich mit einer aktiven Entwickler*innen-Community interessiert ist und Lust hat diesen Entwicklungsprozess mit META zu begleiten.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: HelveticaNeue;">Wir freuen uns über Menschen, die Lust haben sich einzubringen. </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: HelveticaNeue;">Fühlst Du dich angesprochen? </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: HelveticaNeue;">Dann schreibe uns einfach eine email: </span><a class="" href="mailto:maike.neufend@meta-journal.net"><span style="font-family: HelveticaNeue;">maike.neufend@meta-journal.net</span></a> und <a class="" href="mailto:markus.hermann@uni-marburg.de"><span style="font-family: HelveticaNeue;">markus.hermann@uni-marburg.de</span></a></p> <p>Euer Meta Team</p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2018-11-07call for papers #13
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/37
<p><strong>Call for Papers #13 – Contacts</strong></p> <p><br> Editors: Evgeniya Prusskaya (Russian Academy of Sciences) and Vera Tsukanova (Philipps-Universität Marburg)</p> <p> </p> <p>Publication date: Fall 2019</p> <p> </p> <p>The peer-reviewed online journal “Middle East – Topics & Arguments” (META) is calling for submissions for its thirteenth issue, which will be entitled <strong>Contacts</strong><strong>.</strong></p> <p>Contacts between different cultures and ethnic groups are an important issue that should be approached and discussed from different points of view, because it affects various facets of human civilization. The interaction between linguistic systems may be the easiest one to identify, but contacts imply both verbal communication and non-verbal actions. Intercultural transfers occur at different levels: attributes of material culture, ideas, religious beliefs, literary topoi, etc. Within this volume we suggest conceptualizing contacts in the form of cross-cultural exchange and its instruments in the context of different disciplines. By adopting a wide understanding of “contacts” we intend to elaborate new approaches and scopes at the intersections of several disciplines. Contacts may be described from the point of view of the cultural, political, and social conditions in which they occur, as well as their consequences.</p> <p>Language contacts represent one of the most important factors of language change. They can trigger language shift, language death, or the creation of a new creole or mixed languages. In the case of the Middle East, languages that had already died at some point but were kept used in literary or religious traditions usually had an impact on spoken languages, cf. Classical vs. dialectal Arabic, Syriac vs modern Aramaic, Classical vs. contemporary Persian. This situation concerns not only the classical situation of diglossia: Arabic, for example, had a huge impact on other languages of the area. Thus, Ottoman Turkish had about 80% borrowed lexicon from Arabic and Persian, and while Persian words came into the language as a result of direct contact, the Arabic ones were learned in the process of education or through Persian. The question arises: how can the classification of language contacts be applied to such situations or to the contacts between various languages of tradition? The following perspectives can be also taken into account: the impact of linguistic borrowings on cultural, religious, and historical changes; the role that secondary communication facilities, such as writing and mass media, play in language contacts; or the shifting dynamics of transfers.</p> <p>On the structural level one can distinguish between atomic borrowings and pervasive phenomena of interference. Sometimes contacts in various domains display similar patterns and intensity, but more interesting for comparison are those cases where they show non-trivial mismatches. As an example, one can cite the destinies of three peoples within the Medieval Arab Caliphate: the Arameans and Egyptians largely shifted to Arabic but partly kept their religion, while the Iranians largely converted to Islam but maintained their own language. The case of the multicultural Ottoman Empire and the ways of communication and cultural transfer within this state, which involved diverse ethnic and religious groups, represents another interesting topic. Shifts in language and communication are often examined through social networks analysis, which today is a growing methodological approach in various disciplines to study contacts between individuals and/or organizations. By analyzing the properties between units of contact and within them, phenomena may be described as relational. Recent manifestations of social media give ample opportunities for empirical linguistic observations.</p> <p>The transfer of ideas and ideology can be studied within the context of relations between the Middle East and North Africa and other world regions (Europe, other areas of Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas) in the 19<sup>th</sup>–21<sup>st </sup>centuries. It implies not only the way of adopting and developing different political or social ideas (republicanism, socialism, modernity, etc.) but also the reflection of these ideas in special terminology of both local and borrowed origin. Colonial and postcolonial interactions, which included institutionalized violence as a language of perceived cultural superiority, as well as intercultural exchange and its rejection, represent important issues to discuss. Postcolonial theory and research on the colonial relationships in the region open a diversity of contact forms: assimilation, hybridization, economic integration, clash of different systems of values, etc. The significant issue of cultural identity in the colonial and postcolonial eras involves the concept of orientalism and its reconsideration.</p> <p>We are seeking articles from different disciplines that involve the Near and Middle East and North Africa, including linguistics, history, comparative literature, sociology, political science, and others. Papers challenging specific hypotheses or frameworks are particularly welcome. Summarizing, we accept papers that address the following issues within the geographical area under discussion:</p> <ul> <li class="show">language contacts</li> <li class="show">interaction of living and classical languages</li> <li class="show">impact of language contacts on different aspects of culture</li> <li class="show">forms of colonial and post-colonial interaction</li> <li class="show">instruments of cross-cultural exchange</li> <li class="show">transfer of the ideas and ideologies</li> <li class="show">social network analysis</li> </ul> <p>Papers presenting new, original research findings on the issue’s topic will be published in the journal’s <em>FOCUS section</em>. Articles in this section should be between 2,800 and 4,600 words.</p> <p>In addition to papers for the main section, we call for contributions for META Journal's special sections:</p> <p>The <em>META section</em> also relates to the issue’s focus topic, with the papers discussing Contacts from a theory-centered perspective. Regional scope is not limited to the Middle East and North Africa, but may also consider theoretical approaches involving other world regions. Article length is 2,800 to 4,600 words.</p> <p>The <em>CLOSE UP section</em> features a short written portrait of a person or institution that has a special relation to the issue’s main topic, e.g. a researcher who has constitutively contributed to the language contacts in the MENA region. It links that person’s biography with their contribution to the field. Article length is 1,500 to 3,000 words.</p> <p>The <em>ANTI/THESIS section</em> juxtaposes two rivaling positions that highlight different lines of argument, pros and cons, and/or competing narratives. These can be presented either by one author together, or by two authors in two different articles. One topic that may be discussed in this section is whether we need to involve local Middle Eastern language theories into academic studies, in order to change “orientalist” view (in the sense of E. Said). Article length for each paper is 1,500‐3,000 words.</p> <p>All articles that fall into the general framework of the journal, but do not relate to the special topic “Contacts,” will be taken into consideration for the <em>OFF TOPIC section</em>: <a href="mailto:offtopic@meta-journal.net">offtopic@meta-journal.net</a></p> <p> </p> <p>Prior to developing a complete manuscript, authors are asked to submit an <strong>abstract</strong> (300 words max.), a <strong>short CV</strong> (150 words max.), and <strong>3‐5 key bibliographic sources</strong>. Please clearly indicate the research question, the method to be used, and the empirical material your research will be based on. Papers are accepted in English and French.</p> <p>The editors will make a preliminary decision regarding the topic’s relevance to the journal’s aim and scope and may provide suggestions for developing the manuscript, at the latest four weeks after the proposal submission deadline.</p> <p>All manuscripts must adhere to our <a href="https://meta-journal.net/0003/cnms/doc/META_StyleSheet.pdf">stylesheet</a> and will not be taken into consideration when exceeding the word count. All manuscripts published with META journal are reviewed through an <a href="https://meta-journal.net/about#peer-review">open peer review process</a>, according to a <a href="https://meta-journal.net/0003/cnms/doc/META_Guide_for_Reviewers.pdf">review guideline</a> on which the reviews should be based. The process is open by choice; author(s) and reviewers choose whether to reveal their own names.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>The deadline for abstract submissions is December 30<sup>th</sup> 2018</strong></p> <p><strong>The deadline for article submissions is April 15<sup>th</sup> 2019</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Proposals, manuscripts, and other editorial correspondence should be sent to: <a href="mailto:submissions13@meta‐journal.net">submissions13@meta‐journal.net</a></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2018-11-07A reflection on infrastructure of academia and the Close-Up section of the 10th issue
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/29
<p><span lang="en-US">By Amina Nolte and Ezgican Özdemir</span></p> <p><span lang="en-US">The recently published 10th issue of Middle East: Topics and Arguments (META) features brilliant authors on the theme of “infrastructure”. As co-editors, we are proud to be part of a publication that combines our joint conceptual interest on “infrastructure” with an empirical focus on the Middle East & North Africa (and beyond). </span></p> <p><span lang="en-US">We were imbued with the responsibility to choose, reject and edit the articles we received. In so doing, our work and academic practice is not just about infrastructure as an object of study. Rather, such editorial practices are part and parcel of an infrastructural foundation of academia that we all create, sustain and reproduce as academics. Publishing on material and social infrastructures in the MENA region is thus inherently related to the very social and professional networks in which we all work, write, publish and thrive.</span></p> <p><span lang="en-US">As editors, but also as young feminist scholars, we strived to ensure both the quality of the papers and an equal number of articles by female* scholars. </span>We are thus proud to not only have published an issue on infrastructure of and in the Middle East and North Africa, but also that we were able to feature 6 young female scholars and their interesting work on infrastructure. However, when we were looking for an interview contribution for the Close Up section, it proved really difficult to find a prominent female scholar, dealing with infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa. This is not, as we would like to emphasize, because there is no relevant work being done by female scholars in this field. Rather, we would contend, it is a matter of visibility and networks. We ended up picking Ronen Shamir for the interview because we felt that his work on electricity in Palestine directly speaks to many pieces featured in the issue. <span lang="en-US">However, we have come to learn after the publication of our issue that Shamir, as a faculty member at Tel Aviv University, has been </span>reprimanded for unbecoming conduct for his intimate relationship with a female student.</p> <p><span lang="en-US">As editors and interviewers of the Close-Up section, we feel responsible – not only for the content published but equally for the platform we provided. We experience now and again that what is rendered visible by means of publishing is inseparable from what and who gets to be represented (and what is not in the ever-competitive field of academia). This is not a matter of hard academic work exclusively, but rather of infrastructures of (in)visibility that we all (re)produce, sustain, or obstruct one way or another. Thus, our issue as well as the interview with Shamir is based on our academic network which helped us to great contributions but also channeled our decisions regarding the interview with Ronen Shamir.</span></p> <p><span lang="en-US">Now that we provided a platform for a male academic with allegations of unbecoming conduct against him, we reject the notion of a possible separation between content and context. We find it impossible to fall silent on the discomfort we feel about having provided a platform to an academic who has allegedly abused his position and power. Acknowledging the complexity of the situation and the ambiguity of the allegations, we have decided to not exclude the interview from our issue. This commentary therefore is to state that allegations against Shamir and the official case against him at Tel Aviv University has only come to the knowledge of us, editors and the META Editorial Board, after the publication of the issue. We also express that had we known about his alleged actions before, we would not have conducted or published the interview.</span></p> <p><span lang="en-US">The situation we find ourselves in reminds us that, once again, the infrastructure of academia includes a wide web of people and simultaneously excludes other social positions of people, knowledge and classes. Just like any other infrastructure that we tried to shed light on in this issue, academia is ridden with networks of power. The infrastructure we talk about here may not be as tangible as pipes, roads, or tramways. Instead it is the social hierarchies that permeate us and which enable and disable many of us and our work to become visible in the field of academia.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><em><span lang="en-US">An earlier version of the comment misstated that Ronen Shamir was reprimanded for sexual misconduct.</span></em></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2018-07-20Anniversary Celebration: Middle East Studies, Digital Culture and Infrastructure
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/28
<p>META is celebrating its five-year anniversary this year. With the forthcoming issue #10 on Infrastructure META marks the occassion by a get-together with associates, members, sponsors, colleagues, readers and friends. From the start META was committed to providing open access to knowledge, to facilitate exchange within the international academic community and to actively contribute to the interregional transfer of knowledge. In consideration of our past achievements and future challenges we would be delighted to welcome you at the CNMS in Marburg this summer!</p> <p>It is our great pleasure to host Prof. <a href="https://complit.uoregon.edu/profile/mallan/">Michael Allan</a> (Comparative Literature, University of Oregon) for the Anniversary Lecture on "Reading Infrastructure: Format, Media, Text".</p> <p>When: June 29, 2018, 6h15 pm</p> <p>Where: CNMS, Deutschhausstraße 12, Hörsaal 00A26, 35037 Marburg</p> <p>The academic event will be followed by a small reception at the event venue. We kindly ask you to register by responding to <a href="mailto:mail@meta-journal.net">mail@meta-journal.net</a> by June 15, 2018.</p> <p>With kindest regards also on behalf of Stefan Weninger (dir. CNMS) as well as the entire CNMS team,</p> <p>META editorial board</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Program<br></strong></p> <p>18h15<br>Middle East Studies, Digital Culture and Infrastructure<br>Ines Braune (META Editorial Team)</p> <p>18h30<br>Welcoming Speeches<br>Andrea Wolff-Wölk (Director of the University Library)<br>Stefan Weninger (Executive Director of the CNMS)</p> <p>18h50<br>Academics Publish for Academics? Reflecting on Five Years of Publishing<br>META & #10 editors Amina Nolte (Sociology, JLU Gießen) and Ezgican Özdemir (Anthropology, CEU Budapest)</p> <p>19h00<br>Anniversary Lecture on "Reading Infrastructure: Format, Media, Text" by Michael Allan (Comparative Literature, University of Oregon)</p> <p>19h30<br>Roundtable Discussion: Open Access: The Future of Academic Publishing?<br>With Anika Oettler (Sociology, Marburg University), Michael Allan, Maike Neufend & Dimitris Soudias (META Editorial Team)</p> <p>20h00<br>Reception</p> <p> </p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2018-05-24call for papers #12
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/22
<p><strong>Call for Papers #12 – Urban Development</strong></p> <p><br>Editors: Christian Steiner (Katholische Universität Eichstätt) and Steffen Wippel (Philipps-Universität Marburg)</p> <p>Publication date: Spring 2019</p> <p><br>The peer-reviewed online journal “Middle East – Topics & Arguments” (META) is calling for submissions for its twelfth issue, which will be entitled Urban Development. This issue intends to critically investigate and question processes of urban change and transformation from a wide range of (trans-)disciplinary, conceptual and theoretical, as well as methodological, approaches.</p> <p><br>Urban development in the Middle East has been complex and multifaceted in recent years. Following the postmodern and neoliberal Dubai model of urban development, fast-track urban growth in Arab Gulf countries has largely reshaped the socio-economic environment in cities such as Doha, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Riyadh and Jeddah, despite severe temporary setbacks following the global financial and economic crises. Investments in cultural, sports, educational and business districts, hyperreal shopping and leisure facilities, huge waterfront developments, iconic mega projects and the redevelopment of religious heritage sites have not only aimed at broadening the economic basis for the post-oil era in these countries. Concurrently, they are intended as tools for city branding in a globalized competition of places and as signs to demonstrate progress and modernization to the members of the Gulf societies themselves. In consequence, these urban development projects function as a nucleus to (re-)develop a new urban and national identity. Moreover, they serve as a means to accumulate symbolic capital to legitimate the existing political system. Therefore, the genius loci of the cities in the region itself has increasingly become a contested space.</p> <p><br>However, comparatively unrecognized urban development in North Africa and the Levant has been turbulent and dynamic, too, and has been partly influenced by the upheavals caused by the “Arab Spring”. For instance, Tunis is trying hard to democratize its urban development governance structures, Tangier has profited from a huge redevelopment of its port facilities, and Erbil endeavours to become an appropriate capital under conditions of emerging statehood. In Cairo, the whole city structure is changing by bringing Cairo Vision 2020 increasingly to life, while Istanbul is trying hard to develop into a widely recognized global city. What all these development paths seem to have in common is not only a postmodern, but also a neoliberal foundation: the privatization of urban planning and development, the erosion and fragmentation of public spaces, a strict orientation towards consumption- and business-orientated development concepts, and the securitization of urban spaces meet opaque and undemocratic planning processes.</p> <p><br>Although the outcomes of these processes set a bright, clean and fascinating stage for urban development in the region, they simultaneously imply a dark and largely hidden side. Increasing socio-economic fragmentation, exploitation, the displacement of old established populations, rising socio-economic and cultural segregation, unequal access to urban infrastructure, growing crime rates, incidents of political unrest, protests and social counter-movements, and an increasing level of surveillance and political suppression by local governments are typical “side effects” of neoliberal urban development policies.</p> <p><br>Whereas many states and cities engage in a rat race of such postmodern, neoliberal urban development, other places in the region face terrorism, war and devastation. Cities such as Aleppo, Kobane, Palmyra and Raqqa in Syria, Sinjar and Mosul in Iraq, Cizre and Sur in Turkey, Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya, and Ta‛izz in Yemen have been bombed and destroyed by various conflicting parties. Thousands of people have lost their lives, and the urban heritage has been seriously damaged or is even lost forever. Even though this destruction may be interpreted as the ultimate outcome of a struggle about space and place, it implies an intrinsic logic in terms of rule, conflict, political economy and development opportunities, which is largely under-researched aside from the case of Beirut.</p> <p><br>Against this background, the proposed themed issue intends to bring together various papers that critically tackle these complex current urban re-configurations and disparate development paths of contemporary urban dynamics in the Middle East and North Africa from cross-fertilising multidisciplinary perspectives. Besides widely present “global cities”, this also includes less-investigated “secondary cities” that nevertheless undergo much the same experiences. As it is done in most social and cultural disciplines today, we understand “urban development” as an open, non-linear and non-teleological process of recurrent transformation and change covering a broad range of aspects, and going far beyond urban planning and architecture alone. However, the term “development” is not neutral and should be attentively scrutinized in itself. In connection with the general tendencies outlined above, urban development also includes issues such as</p> <p><br>- urban governance<br>- place branding<br>- migrating urban models<br>- the integration of cities into global and regional networks<br>- esthetical challenges<br>- heritage politics with respect to colonial architecture and former cosmopolitanism<br>- and the question of how individuals and groups enact, contribute to and deal with current urban transformations</p> <p><br>For this, we call for conceptually well-informed, field research-based articles from a broad array of disciplines, including geography, economics, political science, sociology, history, architecture, anthropology and further fields of social and cultural studies.</p> <p><br>Papers presenting new original research findings on the issue’s topic will be published in the journal’s FOCUS section. Articles in this section should be between 2,800 and 4,600 words.</p> <p>In addition, we call for contributions for META’s special sections:</p> <p><br>The CLOSE UP section features a short portrait of a person who has a special relation to the issue’s main topic, e.g. a researcher who has constitutively contributed to the field of urban studies on cities in the MENA region. It links that person’s biography with a critical evaluation of his or her conceptual and empirical contribution to the field. Article length is 1,500 to 3,000 words.</p> <p><br>The META section also relates to the issue’s focus topic, with papers discussing the main topic from a theory-centred perspective. Regional scope is not limited to the Middle East and North Africa, but may also consider central theoretical approaches to contemporary urban development involving other world regions. Article length is limited to 2,800 to 4,600 words.</p> <p><br>The ANTI/THESIS section juxtaposes two rivalling or complementary positions that highlight different overarching lines of argument, pros and cons, and/or competing narratives critically engaging with theories and concepts related to the current re-configurations experienced by cities in the region. These positions can be presented either together by one author or by two different authors in two separate articles. Contributions can discuss, for instance, neoliberal, postmodern and sustainable development of and in Middle Eastern and North African cities. Article length for each paper is 1,500-3,000 words.</p> <p><br>All other paper proposals that fall within the general framework of the journal, but do not relate to the special topic “Urban Development”, will be taken into consideration by the journal’s editorial board for the <a href="https://meta-journal.net/announcement/view/13">OFF TOPIC </a>section.</p> <p><br>Prior to developing a complete manuscript, authors are asked to submit an abstract (300 words maximum), a short CV (not more than 150 words) and three to five key bibliographic sources. Please clearly indicate the research question, the method to be used and the empirical material your research will be based on. Papers will be accepted in English only.</p> <p><br>The editors will make a preliminary decision regarding the topic’s relevance to the journal’s aims and scope and may provide suggestions for developing the manuscript, at the latest four weeks after the proposal submission deadline. All manuscripts have to adhere to our <a href="https://meta-journal.net/about/submissions">stylesheet</a>. All manuscripts published with META journal are peer reviewed. Referees receive a guideline on which their review should be based. The process is open by choice; author(s) and reviewers choose whether to reveal their own names.</p> <p><br><strong>The deadline for abstract submissions is March 30, 2018</strong><br><strong>The deadline for article submissions is August 30, 2018</strong></p> <p><br>Proposals and other editorial correspondence should be sent to<br><a href="mailto:submissions12@meta-journal.net">submissions12@meta-journal.net</a></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2018-01-16call for papers #11
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/18
<h1>Trauma</h1><p> </p><p><strong>Editors: Stephan Milich, Lamia Moghnieh<br /></strong></p><h1> </h1><h1>Publication date: Fall 2018</h1><p> </p><p>The peer‐reviewed online journal Middle East – Topics & Arguments (META Journal) is calling for submissions for its issue on the topic of <strong>Trauma</strong>.</p><p><br />The history of trauma—as a disorder of the railway, as shell shock, as a psychoanalytic concept and then post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in biomedical psychiatry—is entangled with war, technology, science, and suffering. Following the rise of feminist and peace movements in the United States and the lobbying of veterans from the Vietnam War, a renewed interest in trauma led the Diagnostic Statistical Manual III (DSM III, 1980) to agree on the existence of common forms of reaction to diverse traumatic events and include all symptoms under one category and diagnosis: PTSD. Since then, trauma has attracted new interest and dissemination in theory and in intervention, especially with the incorporation of psychological care and therapy in humanitarian interventions.</p><p> </p><p>The dissemination of trauma, however, has not been confined to scientific and humanitarian discourses alone, but has entered everyday discourse. Trauma as discourse transforms existing conceptions and assumptions about the world, the self, cultural memory, and articulations of suffering. In the Middle East and North Africa, these dynamics have been further reinforced by two interrelated developments: the rise in the number of armed conflicts and the subsequent humanitarian and psycho‐medical interventions. Although a great number of historic events and situations (colonialism, the Palestinian Nakba and Naksa, the Algerian resistance, the Lebanese Civil War, the Gulf Wars, the “War on Terror”, state authoritarianism and dictatorship) have already partly been interpreted as a social trauma by some Arab psychologists and intellectuals, research on trauma in the humanities related to the MENA region is a quite recent phenomenon.</p><p> </p><p>This special issue contributes to a deeper critical understanding of trauma in the societies, cultures, and histories of the Middle East and North Africa. We would like to bring together perspectives from the social sciences, humanities, and cultural studies, not least by exploring the narrativization of suffering or its non‐verbal expression both in social reality and cultural production. We invite explorations and critiques into trauma as a science, practice of care, and a frame of suffering from war and violence, drawing from historical and contemporary cases. On a different level, we consider it important to pay particular attention to the materiality of suffering and the politics of trauma in specific contexts. To be recognized as a traumatized person/community/nation can entail manifold consequences, including material recompense, being granted asylum, or gaining public sympathy.On the other hand, labeling refugees as traumatized has justified repressive migration politics, as in the case of some Gulf States: One of the arguments behind the denial of entry for Syrian refugees into some Gulf States was their alleged traumatization. Thus, expressions and claims of trauma are closely linked to questions of political interest, in/justice, victimhood, guilt, revenge, reconciliation, and redemption.</p><p> </p><p>We welcome inquiries into alternative representations of suffering from violence and war. Drawing on empirical data, personal narratives, and theory that responds to the reality of a devastated social fabric, of living in‐violence and human suffering, we also invite approaches searching beyond the trauma model. We welcome papers that address the following topics:</p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>History of trauma in the Middle East</strong>: War, science, and care</li><li><strong>Violence, suffering, and the social fabric</strong> (e.g. prison and torture, military conflicts, gender‐based violence, etc.)</li><li><strong>Narratives and testimonies of trauma in social reality and its cultural production</strong></li><li><strong>Reading and witnessing trauma</strong>: Reception, response, and resonance of traumatic narratives among readers and listeners</li><li><strong>Trauma in modern and contemporary Arabic literature, film and the arts</strong>: How does cultural expression contribute to processes of (mis)understanding or (mis)representing certain traumatic histories?</li><li><strong>Gendered suffering</strong>: Trauma and the making of masculinities/femininities, feminist approaches to trauma</li><li><strong>Humanitarianism, refugees, and trauma</strong>: Mental health, humanitarian psychiatry, governance</li><li><strong>Trauma politics</strong>: Victimhood, moral claims, political interest</li><li><strong>The body in pain</strong>: Trauma and mind/body dualism</li><li><strong>Materiality of trauma</strong>: Political economy, the material existence of trauma and/or PTSD (its subjects and objects, its bodies and cognitions), semiotics of suffering</li><li><strong>Trauma from the margins</strong>: Experts and intellectual debates on suffering; universalism/locality; who subscribes to trauma?</li><li><strong>Beyond trauma</strong>: Alternative readings and experiences of violence and suffering</li></ul><p> </p><p><br />In recent years, critical attempts to decolonize trauma studies have been among the most productive endeavors to prevent trauma theory from continuing its Eurocentric, often homogenizing and at times exclusive readings of social reality, human suffering, and cultural imagination. Middle Eastern Studies and related fields have much to contribute in theorizing, deepening, and critically scrutinizing the emerging field of transregional and interdisciplinary trauma studies.</p><p> </p><p>For this issue of META Journal, we call for contributions from a broad array of disciplines, including cultural and media/film studies, the humanities, social science and psychology, science & technology studies, as well as (international) law and political philosophy.</p><p> </p><p>Most articles of Middle East – Topics & Arguments are published in the FOCUS section. Submissions relate to the issue’s focus topic and reflect original research. Articles in this section are typically between 2,800 to 4,600 words.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to papers for the main section, we call for contributions for META Journal's special sections:</p><p>The META section also relates to the issue’s focus topic, with the papers in “meta” discussing the main topic from a theory-centered perspective. Regional scope is not limited to the Middle East, but may also consider theoretical approaches involving other world regions. Article length is 2,800 to 4,600 words.</p><p><br />The CLOSE UP section features a short written portrait of a person who has a special relation to the issue’s main topic, e.g. a researcher who has constitutively contributed to the field. It links that person’s biography with their contribution to the field. Article length is 1,500 to 3,000 words.</p><p><br />The ANTI/THESIS section juxtaposes two rivalling positions that highlight different lines of argument, pros and cons, and/or competing narratives. These can be presented either by one author together, or by two different authors in two different articles. Article length for each paper is 1,500‐3,000 words.</p><p><br />All articles that fall into the general framework of the journal, but do not relate to the special topic Trauma, will be taken into consideration for the OFF TOPIC section: offtopic@meta-journal.net</p><p> </p><p>Prior to developing a complete manuscript, authors are asked to submit an abstract (300 words max.), a short CV (150 words max.), and 3‐5 key bibliographic sources. Please clearly indicate the research question, the method to be used, and the empirical material your research will be based on. Papers are accepted in English only.</p><p><br /><strong>The deadline for abstract submissions is December 15th 2017</strong></p><p><br /><strong>The deadline for article submissions is April 15th 2018</strong></p><p><br />Proposals, manuscripts, and other editorial correspondence should be sent to: <strong>submissions11@meta‐journal.net</strong></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2017-10-17call for papers #10
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/17
<h1>Infrastructure</h1><p><strong>Editors: Amina Nolte, Ezgican Özdemir</strong></p><h1> </h1><h1>Publication date: Spring 2018</h1><p class="LO-normal"> </p><p class="LO-normal">The peer-reviewed online journal “Middle East – Topics & Arguments” (META) is calling for submissions for its tenth issue on the topic of “<strong>Infrastructure</strong>”.</p><p class="LO-normal"> </p><p class="LO-normal">Infrastructure points to the ultimate conceptual debates of social science; it highlights the strong connections between material things, lives, and practice with immaterial and ideational aspects of human life. Furthermore, infrastructural matters like pipes, dams, walls, grids, cables, etc. reveal and, even more so, complicate the relationship between nature and humanity. We believe that studying infrastructure leads to new horizons of understanding people’s socio-political, moral and affective worlds and how they relate to conceptions of nature. Infrastructure as the topic for the tenth issue of Middle East – Topics & Arguments (META) offers a variety of conceptual approaches from many disciplines, such as history, anthropology, sociology, political science, cultural studies, media studies and economics (among others), as the topic connects the research on practices of everyday life with questions of planning, state politics and local and global neoliberal developments. Further, Infrastructure provides an interesting departure point to study the material entanglements of infrastructure with modes of its facilitation and representation.</p><p class="LO-normal"> </p><p class="LO-normal">Infrastructures, such as transportation, energy and water networks, facilitate everyday life, while at the same time rupture it at any given moment. They assemble all kinds of actors and agents once they are brought into being. As manifestations of diverging interests, infrastructures are always bound with relations of power and domination. They hence do not only embody and reproduce power relations, but also engender sites of resistance and subversion in times of social crises. These understandings of infrastructures will help us to study them as much more than technological accomplishments of the present, but rather as cultural semiotics that are deeply embedded in everyday politics and social relations.</p><p class="LO-normal"> </p><p class="LO-normal">For this META issue, we are looking for submissions that not only interrogate infrastructural networks as spatial arrangements that lay out social organization, but also look back into the temporality of infrastructures: histories of colonialism and imperialism that once shaped Middle Eastern and North African societies and the post/neo-colonial continuations of material networks that facilitate and control communities.</p><p class="LO-normal"> </p><p class="LO-normal">From the symbolic meanings to its material effects, its embeddedness in everyday politics and role in negotiations of power and resistance, infrastructures are indeed the key point for scrutinizing technological and developmental progress, neoliberalism and modernity at large.</p><p class="LO-normal">We welcome abstracts for proposed articles from scholars that employ infrastructure as a key conceptual instrument in understanding and researching commonalities and differences of the political, social and cultural worlds in the Middle East. Some suggested themes are:</p><p class="LO-normal"> </p><ul><li><strong>Infrastructural Histories</strong></li></ul><p class="LO-normal">The tendency to consider infrastructural systems as timeless is a job half undone, and we welcome papers that discuss the ways in which the “life stories” of infrastructures are directly relevant to the emergence of not only modern nation-states, colonialism, and neoliberalism, but also political histories of post-colonial contexts in the MENA region.</p><p class="LO-normalCxSpMiddle"> </p><ul><li><strong>States, Expertise and Politics of Infrastructure</strong></li></ul><p class="LO-normal">Infrastructural elements are what bind bodies, households and communities together. And sometimes they are what tear them apart. The public shapes and is shaped by these concrete and technical entities. A crucial aspect of how infrastructures are perceived is that they unveil the contested relations between the states and societies driven by power and exchange. We seek to understand the relational aspects of infrastructures; not only between state actors and their constituents, but also amongst the world of expertise – namely, the engineers, technicians, and workers who build, oversee, and manage these life structures and how they relate to the public sphere.</p><p class="LO-normal"> </p><ul><li><strong>Infrastructures in Crisis: Rupture, Violence and Securitization</strong></li></ul><p class="LO-normal">Throughout the last decade, many spaces have become increasingly securitized and militarized. In “war zones” and in many urban settings all over the world, the role of security in times of “war against terror” has become paramount to urban planners, state institutions and private security firms. As public goods, infrastructures such as airports and buses, but also pipelines, etc., have become increasingly targeted by terror attacks, which has warranted constant intervention from state agencies and private security firms. The security of infrastructures often comes along with an increase in the application of infrastructures of security: constant surveillance, racial profiling, the use of drones and other intelligence means. Hence, infrastructures can be seen as specific spatial assemblages that reflect and manifest, but often also evade these efforts of securitization. The goal is to explore the ways in which infrastructures can not only be tools for securitization and surveillance in the hands of state and private actors, but also can be employed as spaces of dissidence that defy total control and can thus become spaces of resistance to (state) power.</p><p class="LO-normal"> </p><ul><li><strong>Mobilities through space and time</strong></li></ul><p class="LO-normal">We welcome abstracts that focus on the key concept of <em>mobility</em> in regard to infrastructures of urban and rural spaces in the Middle East. At the heart of many struggles between city residents and their governments are not only inter-city/state highways and city transportation, but also the provision of services such as electricity, water and garbage collection. What is more is that this struggle heavily involves our natural surroundings and resources. Mobility has become a key term, not just with respect to the (in)ability to move from one place to another, but also in terms of social and cultural mobility. Here the goal is to contribute to the conceptualization of the mobility of people, goods, and resources through scrutinizing the use, manipulation of and negotiations around designing and facilitating these infrastructural systems.</p><p class="LO-normal"> </p><p class="LO-normal">Other themes that could be tackled under the umbrella of infrastructure could be:</p><ul><li>How does the planning, implementation and running of infrastructure affect the construction of gender roles and reflect the ongoing social construction and negotiation of public and private spaces?</li></ul><ul><li>How can infrastructure be conceptualized with regard to its economic importance? Infrastructures are increasingly important when it comes to business investments all over the globe. As huge entities that create the need for human resources, expensive materials, time and capital, infrastructures reflect the global politics of capitalism and its asymmetric functioning. Not only in war-ridden areas such as Iraq, Libya and Syria, but also in other Middle Eastern countries, infrastructures are targeted as places that reflect the global economic dynamics. These technological systems create a network that enhance the reach of the global market. Keeping this in mind, how do the implementation, investment and privatization of infrastructures impact the global economic order that is manifested continuously in the Middle Eastern context?</li></ul><p class="LO-normal"> </p><p class="LO-normal">We call for articles from a broad array of disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, political science, literature studies, cultural studies, media studies, history and economics, which critically engage with concepts of infrastructure related to the MENA region, or which present new empirical findings</p><p class="LO-normal"> </p><p>Submissions relating to the issue’s focus topic are published in the FOCUS section and reflect original research. Articles in this section should be between 2,800 to 4,600 words. In addition to papers for the FOCUS section, we call for contributions for META's special sections:</p><p>The CLOSE UP section features a short written portrait of a person who has a special relation to the issue’s main topic, e.g. a researcher who has constitutively contributed to the field. It links that person’s biography with their contribution to the field. Article length is 1,500 to 3,000 words.</p><p> </p><p>The META section also relates to the issue’s focus topic, with the papers in “meta” discussing the main topic from a theory-centered perspective. Regional scope is not limited to the Middle East, but may also consider theoretical approaches involving other world regions. Article length is 2,800 to 4,600 words.</p><p> </p><p>The ANTI/THESIS section juxtaposes two rivaling positions that highlight different lines of argument, pros and cons, and/or competing narratives. These can be presented either by one author together, or by two different authors in two different articles. Article length for each paper is 1,500-3,000 words. All articles that fall into the general framework of the</p><p>journal, but do not relate to the special topic “Infrastructure”, will be taken into consideration for the OFF TOPIC section.</p><p> </p><p>Prior to developing a complete manuscript, authors are asked to submit an abstract (300 words max.), a short CV (150 words max.), and 3-5 key bibliographic sources. Please clearly indicate the research question, the method to be used, and the empirical material your research will be based on. Papers are accepted in English only.</p><p> </p><p>The editors will make a preliminary decision regarding the topic’s relevance to the journal’s aims and scope and may provide suggestions for developing the manuscript. Please consult our website for further information about the journal’s concept, sections, and authors’ guidelines.</p><p> </p><p><strong>The deadline for abstract submissions is July 3<sup>th</sup> 2017</strong></p><p><strong><br /></strong></p><p><strong>The deadline for article submissions is September 30<sup>th</sup> 2017</strong></p><p><strong><br /></strong></p><p>Proposals, manuscripts and other editorial correspondence should be sent to: <strong>submissions10@meta-journal.net</strong></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2017-03-30Journal History – Speech about META
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/16
<p>Speech by Prof. Dr. Cilja Harders about META, July 10, 2014</p><p> </p><p>In July 2014, Prof. Dr. Cilja Harders honored META in her speech on the occasions of META’s first anniversary and the launch of issue #2. The speech was delivered at a celebration party with the editorial board, members of the advisory board, authors and friends of META.</p><p> </p><p>Thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to be here with you and to celebrate 1 year and 2 issues of META. Let me briefly outline what I would like to speak to you about in the next 30 minutes. My initial focus will be on my understanding of sense and nonsense, on the possibilities and limitations of regional research and its public and academic role. Against this background, I will reflect on our digital birthday boy—what does META want to accomplish something, and what should META accomplish, in today's research environment? Finally, I will look specifically at the newest issue and ask the question: has META lived up to its goals? Here, I can already reveal to you that the answer will be a resounding "Yes".</p><p> </p><p><a href="/pages/view/laudatory-speech-about-meta-en">The full speech by Prof. Dr. Cilja Harders (Translated from German)</a></p><p><a href="/pages/view/laudatio-about-meta-de">The full speech by Prof. Dr. Cilja Harders in german</a></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2017-03-03call for papers #9
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/15
<h1>Youth</h1><p><strong>Editors: Christoph H. Schwarz, Anika Oettler</strong></p><h1> </h1><h1>Publication date: Fall 2017</h1><h1> </h1><p>The uprisings of 2011 challenged many predominant concepts of ‘youth’ in the MENA region. Before, young people were often merely discussed as a ‘youth bulge’ – a demographic, quantitative problem, even a potential terrorist threat. In other stereotypical representations, youths and young adults hardly appeared as political subjects, but rather as objects of policies that had to change: unemployed and socially excluded, passive victims of a failed social pact negotiated between former generations and authoritarian regimes. Movements that contradicted both stereotypes, like the Moroccan and Tunisian unemployed graduates, who had been protesting ‘apolitically’, negotiating their employment with authoritarian regimes for over a decade, hardly received any attention. </p><p> </p><p>A new idol emerged in the course of the 2011 events in the MENA region: the ‘young Arab protester’ was acclaimed as a heroic vanguard against fossilized autocratic regimes ruled by old men. For many, this figure seemed to embody certain democratic ideals and practices that apparently had lost impetus in the established democracies of the West, especially in the wake of the global economic crisis. Here, new social movements like the Spanish ‘indignados’ were highly inspired by the ‘Arab Spring’. Now, young people in the MENA region were also given credit as protagonists in the cultural field, which was often directly related to their political mobilizations. Western media started to show interest in their creative productivity, whether in literature, music, their use of new media and ICTS, or everyday practices like football and its respective fan cultures. </p><p> </p><p>In academia, this sudden public attention was echoed by a boom in research on ‘youth’ in the MENA region. But many of the studies and policy papers hardly involved critical theoretical reflections of the term ‘youth’. Again, young people were mainly researched as members of an age cohort, defined in quantitative terms, although now with different expectations. On the other hand, critical discussions regarding the empirical significance of youth in reproducing social inequality and catalyzing processes of social exclusion continue to revolve around the situation of young people in 'the West’. These debates often seem oddly disconnected from the social reality in the MENA region – a region that empirically has been inseparable from 'the West' throughout long histories of colonialism and migration, and in which young people constitute, after all, the majority of the population.</p><p> </p><p>Against this backdrop, we welcome papers that address the overarching theme of the call, including those that consider, but are not limited to, the following topics and questions:</p><p> </p><ul><li>How do the concepts of ‘youth’ and ‘generation’ help to understand these recent developments?</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>To what extent does social age, ‘youthfulness’, or generationality matter when we discuss power relations, the reproduction of social inequality, and actors’ agency in the region?</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>How much does it influence analyses and discussions of recent developments, e.g. regarding refugee policy and refugees’ agency, or Jihadist recruitment in the MENA region and in the West?</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Does it suggest different policy interventions and media attention when we frame a certain phenomenon, such as political violence, social exclusion or inequality, as a ‘youth’ issue, or as a problem between generations?</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>How do actors position themselves in intergenerational relations and refer to generational narratives, on which grounds, and to what purpose?</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>How are these narratives related to specific fields of cultural production or everyday practices?</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>What are the spatial dimensions of ‘being young’?</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>How are ‘youth’ and ‘adulthood’ defined in different social spaces, contexts, and fields?</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Can we discern respective transitions to adulthood, and if so, how are they organized and negotiated?</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>How does social age matter at intersections of class, ethnicity and gender?</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>We call for articles from a broad array of disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, political science, literature studies, cultural studies, media studies, history and economics, which critically engage with concepts of youth related to the MENA region, or which present new empirical findings.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Submissions relating to the issue’s focus topic are published in the FOCUS section and reflect original research. Articles in this section should be between 2,800 to 4,600 words. In addition to papers for the FOCUS section, we call for contributions for META's special sections:</p><p> </p><p>The CLOSE UP section features a short written portrait of a person who has a special relation to the issue’s main topic, e.g. a researcher who has constitutively contributed to the field. It links that person’s biography with their contribution to the field. Article length is 1,500 to 3,000 words.</p><p> </p><p>The META section also relates to the issue’s focus topic, with the papers in “meta” discussing the main topic from a theory-centered perspective. Regional scope is not limited to the Middle East, but may also consider theoretical approaches involving other world regions. Article length is 2,800 to 4,600 words.</p><p> </p><p>The ANTI/THESIS section juxtaposes two rivaling positions that highlight different lines of argument, pros and cons, and/or competing narratives. These can be presented either by one author together, or by two different authors in two different articles. Article length for each paper is 1,500-3,000 words.</p><p> </p><p>All articles that fall into the general framework of the journal, but do not relate to the special topic “Youth”, will be taken into consideration for the OFF TOPIC section.</p><p> </p><p>Prior to developing a complete manuscript, authors are asked to submit an abstract (300 words max.), a short CV (150 words max.), and 3-5 key bibliographic sources. Please clearly indicate the research question, the method to be used, and the empirical material your research will be based on. Papers are accepted in English only.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The editors will make a preliminary decision regarding the topic’s relevance to the journal’s aims and scope and may provide suggestions for developing the manuscript. Please consult our website for further information about the journal’s concept, sections, and authors’ guidelines.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>The deadline for abstract submissions is December 20<sup>th</sup> 2016.</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>The deadline for article submissions is April 15<sup>th</sup> 2017.</strong></p><p> </p><p>Proposals, manuscripts and other editorial correspondence should be sent to: <strong><a href="mailto:submissions9@meta-journal.net">submissions9@meta-journal.net</a></strong></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2016-11-07call for papers #8
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/14
<p><strong>Iconography</strong></p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">Editors: Perrine Lachenal, Georg Leube</p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"> </p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">Publication date: Spring 2017</p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"> </p><p>The peer-reviewed online journal “Middle East – Topics & Arguments” (META) is calling for submissions for its eighth issue, which will be entitled <strong>Iconography</strong>.</p><p>When regarding the flourishing array of murals in post-revolutionary Cairo, one is as impressed by the broad variety of pictures and words employed in these famous graffiti as by the range of performative responses these newly created “icons” of the revolution draw from the audience of contemporary Egypt and beyond. While here as in other depictions of “martyrs”, social actors play out larger political debates concerning the legitimacy or illegitimacy of violence, the pictures created in turn force their audience to some form of engagement, a process aptly described as an “entanglement” by A. Gell.<a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> They are in this aspect surprisingly parallel to the canon of royal pastimes known as the <em>Princely Cycle</em> in the study of Medieval Islamic material culture, depicting rulers in recurring scenes of hunting, feasting and music to an audience in all likelihood striving to emulate these princely pastimes in performances of their own.</p><p> </p><p>Synchronistic studies of the combination of discrete elements in spatially and temporally bounded areas such as these form one of the most adaptable approaches in the field of Cultural Studies. The META issue “Iconography” aims to critically engage with this approach and shed light on the underlying assumptions of a “grammar” of a Language of Forms (<em>Formensprache</em>) and the interplay of visibility and structure in representations produced in a given society. We welcome papers that address the overarching theme of the call, including those that consider, but are not limited to, the following topics and questions:</p><h2>Permeability</h2><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">Drawing on concepts derived from the fields of Visual Culture Studies, Visual Anthropology and other disciplines, we are especially interested in permeabilities between discrete repertoires, traditions and mediums. With due awareness of the looming pitfalls of essentialisms, it is highly interesting how some Languages of Forms tend to be seen as static realms conceptualized as distinct with regard to other iconographic traditions. At the same time, however, the re-actualization of living iconographic traditions leads to a constant incorporation of novel elements, structures and technologies. We aim to shed light on this interplay of permeability and seclusion by asking the following questions:</p><ul><li>How does the construction of coherent iconographies work?</li><li>How is the functioning of permeability regulated?</li><li>How is permeability and seclusion moderated across separate genres?</li></ul><h2>Performativity</h2><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">A second major issue connected to studies of an iconographic nature lies in the relation of representations produced in a given society to their grounding in performative actions. Drawing on concepts of Judith Butler and others, we approach the public sphere as a set of performances enacted by means of representations. The specific nature of these representations is mediated by means of the actualization of existing iconographical vocabularies and grammars to formulate claims to visibility and relevance.</p><ul><li>What is the relation of the iconographical vocabulary of a representation to the worldview of its producers?</li><li>How is the performance of social roles in a given society governed by existing iconographical vocabularies?</li><li>How and in which potentially different ways is a given representation or performance understood as a relevant claim in the public sphere?</li></ul><h2>Technology</h2><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">A further crucial role in iconographic studies of all epochs is played by the relationship between the formulated claim and its underlying technology. We understand technology in the broadest sense to encompass all aspects that are brought to bear on circumstances of production.</p><ul><li>How does the social technology of communication regulate the coordination of claims formulated in a given iconographic tradition?</li><li>What is the relationship between the technical aspects of production and the ways in which a claim is formulated and read?</li><li>What is the social relationship between the designer and the producer of a given claim? In which ways may design and production eventually overlap?</li></ul><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">We call for articles from a broad array of disciplines, including political science, sociology, anthropology, literature studies, cultural studies, media studies, linguistics, history and economics, which critically engage with iconographical approaches related to the Near and Middle East.</p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"> </p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">Submissions relating to the issue’s focus topic are published in the FOCUS section and reflect original research. Articles in this section should be between 2,800 to 4,600 words. In addition to papers for the FOCUS section, we call for contributions for META's special sections:</p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"> </p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">The CLOSE UP section features a short written portrait of a person who has a special relation to the issue’s main topic, e.g. a researcher who has constitutively contributed to the field. It links that person’s biography with their contribution to the field. Article length is 1,500 to 3,000 words.</p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"> </p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">The META section also relates to the issue’s focus topic, with the papers in “meta” discussing the main topic from a theory-centered perspective. Regional scope is not limited to the Middle East, but may also consider theoretical approaches involving other world regions. Article length is 2,800 to 4,600 words.</p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">The ANTI/THESIS section juxtaposes two rivaling positions that highlight different lines of argument, pros and cons, and/or competing narratives. These can be presented either by one author together, or by two different authors in two different articles. Article length for each paper is 1,500-3,000 words.</p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"> </p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">All articles that fall into the general framework of the journal, but do not relate to the special topic “Iconography”, will be taken into consideration for the OFF TOPIC section.</p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"> </p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">Prior to developing a complete manuscript, authors are asked to submit an abstract (300 words max.), a short CV (150 words max.), and 3-5 key bibliographic sources. Please clearly indicate the research question, the method to be used, and the empirical material your research will be based on. Papers are accepted in English only.</p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"> </p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">The editors will make a preliminary decision regarding the topic’s relevance to the journal’s aims and scope and will provide suggestions for developing the manuscript. Please consult our website for further information about the journal’s concept, sections, and authors’ guidelines.</p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"> </p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"><strong>The deadline for abstract submissions is June 30<sup>th</sup> 2016.</strong></p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"><strong><br /></strong></p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"><strong>The deadline for article submissions is September 30<sup>th</sup> 2016.</strong></p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock"><strong><br /></strong></p><p class="FormatvorlageLateinTimesNewRomanKomplexTimesNewRomanBlock">Proposals, manuscripts and other editorial correspondence should be sent to: <strong>submissions8@meta-journal.net</strong>.</p><div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div><p><a id="_ftn1" title="" href="/manager/editAnnouncement/#_ftn1">[1]</a> <em>Art and Agency</em>, A. Gell, Oxford 1998.</p></div></div>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2016-05-09call for papers: off topic section
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/13
<p>The META Off Topic section aims to publish articles pursuing interdisciplinary approaches to fields of relevance to the greater Middle East and North Africa. “Off Topic” articles do not relate to the issue’s main topic and may be on any matter that fits into the journal’s general scope. We seek to cover a broad range of disciplines – among them history, literature, linguistics, media studies, political science, social and cultural anthropology, Islamic Studies, Semitic Studies as well as Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish or Iranian Studies. Submissions should provide original analyses of up-to-date issues, or discussion of recent research results.</p> <p> </p> <p>Authors are invited to contact us with details about the thoughts they wish to publish in META. Prior to developing a complete manuscript, authors are asked to submit a short abstract (300 words max.), a short CV (150 words max.), and 3-5 key bibliographic sources. Please clearly indicate the research question, the method to be used, and the empirical material your research will be based on. Papers are accepted in English only.</p> <p> </p> <p>For further information about the journal’s concept, sections, and authors’ guidelines, please visit our website! Please send submissions to: <strong>offtopic@meta-journal.net</strong></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2016-04-11call for papers #7
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/12
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">The peer-reviewed online journal “Middle East – Topics & Arguments” (META) is calling for submissions for its seventh issue, which will be entitled </span></span><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US"><strong>Culture</strong></span></span><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">The META issue “Culture” aims to critically engage with the various, often contradictory concepts of culture as used in the field of Middle Eastern Studies. The corpora of literature appropriated by the different disciplines relevant for the scope of META treat the issue in a variety of different ways, sometimes using the word "culture" as describing a universal and non-negotiable category, and often without expounding the problem of essentialisms emanating from its inherent normative quality, i.e. perceiving a culture as something either inherently bad or good, something to be desired, or something to be feared. </span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">What we want to discuss by inviting interested scholars to contribute to this issue is exactly this quality of the term itself, its ambiguity and complexity, and its implications and dangers in public and academic discourse. Acknowledging the discourses leading to the prominence of “culture” and the so-called “cultural turn” in the humanities and social sciences in the 1970s and onwards, the editors hold the opinion that the contemporary usage of the term in the field of Middle Eastern Studies is still in large parts unclear, essentializing, and/or contestable.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">The editors' approach to “culture” relies significantly on the tradition of British Cultural Studies. Culture is thus understood as dynamic, fragmented, and constantly changing. It is closely linked to communication, the crafting of practices, the ritualization of community life, and the institutionalization of a normative order as well as the resistance towards it. Culture circumscribes a terrain of political and ideological struggle in which social conventions, norms, and values are constantly being contested and (re)negotiated. In short, culture is perceived as the realm of the continuous struggle of humans to make sense of themselves and all that surrounds them in a way that involves social and political interaction with other humans in the shared habitat.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">We welcome papers that address the overarching theme of the call, including those that consider, but are not limited to, the following topics and questions:</span></span></p><ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">Cultural Politics: Pertaining to the ideological dimension of culture and the struggle for the power of interpretation: How are particular cultural representations and meanings (temporarily) naturalized? When and how are these naturalizations used for political purposes?</span></span></p></li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">Cultural Policy: Representing the institutional and administrative dimension of culture: How do institutions of the state and civil society implement, spread, and naturalize particular meanings?</span></span></p></li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">Geographical/Religious/Ethnic understanding of culture: What does it entail to speak of an Islamic or Arab culture? What does the fluid concept of “culture” signify in connection with a seemingly more stable term such as, for example, “Syrian culture”?</span></span></p></li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">Forms and “qualities” of culture: What are the implications of differentiating between “low” and “high” culture or “appropriated/copied” and “original/traditional” culture? What is signified by the “popular” in “popular culture”? Is it scientifically viable to use qualitative categories of culture at all?</span></span></p></li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">The role and position of the scholar researching culture has to be scrutinized: How is it possible to assess the cultural subjectivity of scholars in their respective research? In what sense is the cultural disposition of the researcher constitutive in developing a specific understanding of the cultural phenomena observed? What is the relation between the cultural subjectivity of the researcher, the theoretical conceptualization of culture, and the production of knowledge?</span></span></p></li></ul><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">In considering these questions, this issue envisages a dialogue between the theoretical and the empirical dimension of research on culture. The theoretical perspective needs to envision the analytical applicability of its assumptions while the usage of the concept in case studies needs to elaborate on its specific theoretical understanding of culture.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">The goal of this issue, then, is to contribute to the academic discourse on culture as a theoretical and analytical challenge by proposing ways to critically reflect upon the usage of culture in academic research. Contributions to this issue should be concerned with a critical discussion of the term and/or its implications, whether through the means of philosophy or by using data from field research, and whether via critical reflection or practical application in a case study.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">Submissions relating to the issue’s focus topic are published in the FOCUS section and reflect original research. Articles in this section should be between 2,800 to 4,600 words. In addition to papers for the FOCUS section, we call for contributions for META's special sections:</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">The CLOSE UP section features a short written portrait of a person who has a special relation to the issue’s main topic, e.g. a researcher who has constitutively contributed to the field. It links that person’s biography with their contribution to the field. Article length is 1,500 to 3,000 words.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">The META section also relates to the issue’s focus topic, with the papers in “meta” discussing the main topic from a theory-centered perspective. Regional scope is not limited to the Middle East, but may also consider theoretical approaches involving other world regions. Article length is 2,800 to 4,600 words.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">The ANTI/THESIS section juxtaposes two rivaling positions that highlight different lines of argument, pros and cons, and/or competing narratives. These can be presented either by one author together, or by two different authors in two different articles. Article length for each paper is 1,500-3,000 words.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">All articles that fall into the general framework of the journal, but do not relate to the special topic “Culture”, will be taken into consideration for the OFF TOPIC section.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">Prior to developing a complete manuscript, authors are asked to submit an abstract (300 words max.), a short CV (150 words max.), and 3-5 key bibliographic sources. Please clearly indicate the research question, the method to be used, and the empirical material your research will be based on. Papers are accepted in English only.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">The editors will make a preliminary decision regarding the topic’s relevance to the journal’s aims and scope and will provide suggestions for developing the manuscript. Please consult our website for further information about the journal’s concept, sections, and <a href="/about/submissions#authorGuidelines">authors’ guidelines</a>.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">The deadline for abstract submissions is </span></span><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US"><strong>15 January, 2016</strong></span></span><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">The deadline for article submissions is </span></span><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US"><strong>30 April, 2016</strong></span></span><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 115%;" align="justify"><span style="font-family: Franklin Gothic Book,serif;"><span lang="en-US">Proposals and manuscripts and other editorial correspondence should be sent to: submissions7@meta-journal.net<br /></span></span></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2015-11-24call for reviews
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/11
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;" align="justify"><span lang="en-US">Middle East – Topics & Arguments (<a>http://meta-journal.net</a>) is a unique journal for innovative research on the region of the Middle East and North Africa. META moves away from a static understanding of concepts, seeing them instead as both versatile instruments of analysis as well as being an object of study themselves, thus facilitating interdisciplinary debates on the basis of a common language with respect to a shared terminology.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;" align="justify"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;" align="justify"><span lang="en-US">The META review section aims to publish reviews of scholarly publications, academic events and audiovisual productions about the Middle East and North Africa as well as from the region itself; therefore we also welcome reviews on work that has been published in other languages than English, German, or French. We seek to cover a broad range of disciplines – among them history, literature, linguistics, media studies, political science, social and cultural anthropology, Islamic Studies, Semitic Studies as well as Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish or Iranian Studies.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;" align="justify"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;" align="justify"><span lang="en-US">Reviewers are invited to contact us with details about the publications or productions they wish to review on the pages of </span><span lang="en-US">META</span><span lang="en-US">. We offer support in ordering free copies of books from their original publishers. </span><span lang="en-US">For further information about the journal’s concept, sections, and authors’ guidelines, please visit our website! Please send submissions to: <a href="mailto:reviews@meta-journal.net">reviews@meta-journal.net</a> </span></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2015-09-30call for papers #6
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/10
<p>Editors: Felix Lang, Malcolm Théoleyre</p> <p>Publication date: Spring 2016</p> <p>The peer-reviewed online journal “Middle East – Topics & Arguments” (META) is calling for submissions for its sixth issue, which will be entitled <strong>The Rebel</strong>.</p> <p>Over-thrower of old orders, the rebel stands out as a positive and romanticized figure of European political avant-garde. As Tunis’s and Cairo’s youth took to the streets to challenge the Ben Ali and Moubarak regimes, they were rapidly framed in European representations, seen as leading their own “springtime of the people”. </p> <p>However, the analogy seemed inoperative as soon as Daesh emerged as a dominant offspring of the Syrian rebellion: religious conservatism, war crimes, and rhetoric of hate appeared incompatible with the European representation of the rebel. This begs the question: what does actually separate the Daesh rebel from the Free Syrian Army rebel; the Daraa rebel from the Tahrir rebel; the European rebel from the Middle Eastern rebel? This leads us to the more delicate question of the line to be drawn between the rebel and the terrorist. </p> <p>Answering these questions, one is faced with a triple difficulty: first, defining and redefining the rebel in Middle Eastern context is necessary not only to rid the rebel from his aura of prestige, but also in order to grasp the understanding that the Middle Eastern rebel has of herself/himself: what word, what semantic field, and what historical reference does the rebel manipulate so as to build a self-representation? How is the figure of the rebel related to notions of masculinity? What role do visual culture, literature and art play in constructing the figure of the rebel? Second, it is necessary to draw the contours of the rebel’s social environment: what economic conditions, what place, what network, what cultural background will cause one to go rebel, and what kind of rebel will one become? Third, it is important to identify the rebel’s instruments and material means: how does the access to social networks create a certain type of rebel? What of the access to arms, or the issue of logistics: where does the rebel eat, sleep and find shelter? From street to rif, what spaces does s/he use?</p> <p>From Urabi to Al-Baghdadi, from the Kurdish Peshmerga to the Zionist Hagana' and the Berber movements, from Lawrence of Arabia to the 'Jihadi Brides': through the figure of the rebel this issue aims to grasp an understanding of the Middles East rebellions other than through a large format lens. We call for articles from a broad array of disciplines including political science, sociology, anthropology, literature studies, cultural studies, media studies, linguistics, history and economics which deal with the rebel as an actor and figure of the cultural imaginary.</p> <p>Most articles of “Middle East – Topics & Arguments” are published in the FOCUS section. Submissions relate to the issue’s focus topic and reflect original research. Articles in this section are typically between 2,800 to 4,600 words. In addition to papers for the main section, we call for contributions for META's special sections: <p>The CLOSE UP section features a short written portrait of a person who has a special relation to the issue’s main topic, e.g. a researcher who has constitutively contributed to the field. It links that person’s biography with their contribution to the field. Article length is 1,500 to 3,000 words. For the present issue, we would also invite papers focusing on individual "rebels", contemporary or historical.</p> <p>The META section also relates to the issue’s focus topic, with the papers in “meta” discussing the main topic from a theory-centered perspective. Regional scope is not limited to the Middle East, but may also consider theoretical approaches involving other world regions. Article length is 2,800 to 4,600 words. For this section, we would like to encourage papers which deal with the semantic field of the rebel as a term and its equivalents in the languages of the Middle East. What are the different aspects gathered under the term 'rebel'? Which are the words used to convey these different shades of meaning in Arabic and/or Farsi, Tamazight, Kurdish, Hebrew? What is their history?</p> <p>The ANTI/THESIS section juxtaposes two rivalling positions that highlight different lines of argument, pros and cons, and/or competing narratives. These can be presented either by one author together, or by two different authors in two different articles. Article length for each paper is 1,500-3,000 words. Papers for this section might, for instance, discuss the appeal of Daesh for European youth: why do young men and women from all over Europe travel to Syria and Iraq to fight? Why do they commit terrorist attacks at home - as, most recently, in France - and what role does an idea of rebellion play in all that?</p> <p>All articles that fall into the general framework of the journal, but do not relate to the special topic “The Rebel”, will be taken into consideration for the OFF TOPIC section.</p> <p>Prior to developing a complete manuscript, authors are asked to submit an abstract (300 words max.), a short CV (150 words max.) and 3-5 key bibliographic sources. Please clearly indicate the research question, the method to be used, and the empirical material your research will be based on. <strong>Papers are accepted in English and French</strong>. </p> <p>The editors will make a preliminary decision regarding the topic’s relevance to the journal’s aims and scope and will provide suggestions for developing the manuscript. Please consult our website for further information about the journal’s concept, sections, and <a href="http://meta-journal.net/about/submissions#authorGuidelines">authors’ guidelines..</a></p> <p>The deadline for abstract submissions is <strong>15 June, 2015</strong>.</p> <p>The deadline for article submissions is <strong>30 September, 2015</strong>.</p> <p>Proposals and manuscripts and other editorial correspondence should be sent to: <a href="mailto:submissions6@meta-journal.net">submissions6@meta-journal.net</a></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2015-04-09call for papers #5
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/9
<p>Editors: Andrea Fischer-Tahir, Dimitris Soudias</p> <p>Publication date: Fall 2015</p> <p>The peer-reviewed online journal “Middle East – Topics & Arguments” (META) is calling for submissions for its next issue, which will be entitled <strong>Periphery</strong>.</p> <p>In the debate on the recent upheavals in the MENA region, researchers have addressed the significance of urban-rural disparities and inner-urban spatial differentiation for popular mobilization and political change. Making use of binaries such as center/periphery or centralization/de-centralization, these approaches echo debates on dependency and world-system theories as pursued especially during the 1970s and 1980s. ‘Periphery’ has often been equated with unevenness in socioeconomic development and with social and political injustice. Therefore much attention to ‘peripheral’ locations has been paid to such issues as governance and its relation to political mobilization. Such an approach certainly allows for discussing broader causalities. Yet far too often power structures are conceived as a top-down relationship and contentious politics are conceptualized bottom-up in terms of organization, agenda, political goal, etc. The former usually ascribes agency only to those ‘in power’, whereas in the latter the level of everyday-life practices of adaptation, rejection and resistance tend to be neglected.</p> <p>The issue turns the focus to spatial differentiation and processes of social and political change in the MENA Region. We start from the assumption that a ‘periphery’ is neither a given nor a static entity to be localized on the ‘natural’ margins of certain regional, national or global units. Instead, we assume that ‘peripheries’ emerge through complex processes of change in demography, economic relations, political decision-making as well as socio-cultural norms and values. ‘Periphery’ refers to spatially manifested inequality of power relations and access to material and symbolic goods that constructs and perpetuates the precedence of ‘centers’ over areas that are marginalized. ‘Peripheries’ may be grasped, for example, through Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad as perceived space in terms of social practice (capital investment, political decision-making, etc.), as conceived space (scientific, technocratic representations and discourses, etc.), and as lived space (lifestyle, identity, interpretation, signification, everyday practices and experience, etc.).</p> <p>With these conceptual discussions in mind, we call for conceptual articles and case studies that shed light on peripheries in a MENA context from a broad array of disciplines including sociology, political science, anthropology, geography, economics, history, cultural studies and media studies. We encourage papers from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives that look at different scales of peripheries; such as global, regional, national, metropolitan centers and urban agglomerations, as well as the scale of cities and rural areas.</p> <p>Articles may address, but are not limited to, such issues as spatial differentiation and popular mobilization, cultural production ‘beyond the center’, conceptual discussions on peripheries and the politics of peripherialization.</p> <p>Please consult our website for further information about the journal’s concept, sections, and <a href="http://meta-journal.net/about/submissions#authorGuidelines">authors’ guidelines..</a></p> <p>The deadline for full-paper-submissions is <strong>31 Januar, 2015</strong>.</p> <p>Proposals and manuscripts and other editorial correspondence should be sent to: <a href="mailto:submissions5@meta-journal.net">submissions5@meta-journal.net</a></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2015-04-09Call for Papers #4
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/7
<p>The peer-reviewed online journal “Middle East – Topics & Arguments” (META) is calling for submissions for its next issue, which will be entitled “Area Studies”.</p> <p>In this issue we want to discuss the concept of area studies as it relates to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In the years following 9/11, the region has witnessed a renewed interest in Western academia, not least of all in Germany where the state and private foundations are among the foremost sponsors of area studies programs. This increase in funding opens a range of opportunities for developing and pursuing novel approaches to area studies in an era of globalization and increasing transregional interdependencies. At the same time, this policy arguably reproduces and intensifies inequalities between academic systems in the global north and those in regions that are being studied in area studies programs.</p> <p>This issue will address both the historical evolution of area studies and related disciplines (in the case of the MENA region: Islamic studies, Oriental philology, Middle East Studies, etc.) as well as contemporary developments on a conceptual as well as an empirical level. We call for submissions that are critically engaging with concepts and methods used in area studies programs (and related disciplines) and discuss the changing relations between area studies and systematic disciplines over the years. We also welcome contributions discussing what a self-reflective and critical area studies approach today might look like.</p> <p>In a globalized world that is often seen as consisting of fluid and interconnected spaces, geographical and epistemological borders, which may define an area, would seem to be blurred. Yet, at the same time, and in a notable departure from this globalizing trend, rigid border regimes are being (re-)installed between specific countries and whole regions in multiple parts of the world, thereby calling into question the assumption of an increasingly integrated world system. We are therefore interested in submissions that analyze relevant actors as well as the political, economic, structural, and other factors that might underlie the definition of areas and the inclusive and exclusive effects of such demarcations for academic knowledge production. </p> <p>Obviously, the ongoing massive transformations within the MENA region known as the Arab Spring have a material as well as a non-material impact on the institutions of knowledge production in Europe and Northern America (e.g. a higher interest of third party funding vs. withdrawal of third party donors, special issues of journals and lecture series, new MA programs, etc.). But, first and foremost, these upheavals have substantial effects on the universities and research centers within Arab and other neighboring countries where similar developments are taking shape. In this issue, META therefore encourages an open debate on the institutional landscape of knowledge production within the MENA region itself, particularly against the backdrop of the Arab Spring. In this context, the current trends towards the restructuring of universities in the MENA region are of particular interest. We are also interested in submissions that address the impact of the ongoing transformations in the MENA region on working relations between scholars and academic institutions located there and those in the global North, including the effects thereof on the production of relevant knowledge on the MENA region in both parts of the world.</p> <p>We call for articles from a broad array of disciplines including political science, sociology anthropology, literature studies, cultural studies, media studies, linguistics, history and economics. We encourage articles that discuss current developments within area studies in a broader context of institutional frameworks, funding policies, and geo-political considerations.</p> <p>Prior to developing a complete manuscript, authors are asked to submit an abstract (300 words max.), a short CV (150 words max.) and 3-5 key bibliographic sources. Please clearly indicate the research question, the method to be used, and the empirical material your research will be based on. </p> <p>The editors will make a preliminary decision regarding the topic’s relevance to the journal’s aims and scope and will provide suggestions for developing the manuscript. Please consult our website for further information about the journal’s concept, sections, and authors’ guidelines.</p> <p>All articles that fall into the general framework of the journal, but do not relate to the special topic “Area Studies”, will be taken into consideration for the “off topic” section of META. </p> <p>The deadline for abstract submissions is <strong>May 31, 2014</strong>.</p> <p>The deadline for article submissions is <strong>September 30, 2014</strong>.</p> <p>Proposals and manuscripts and other editorial correspondence should be sent to: <a href="mailto:submissions4@meta-journal.net">submissions4@meta-journal.net</a></p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2014-04-02Call for Papers #3
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/6
<p>"Cultural heritage" is commonly associated with buildings, monuments and other historical relics (such as, for example, the pyramids, the Ishtar Gate or the Nefertiti Bust), as well as with the work of museums or other public institutions and organizations whose duty it is to restore, preserve, and present them to the public.<br /><br />In a wider sense, however, the term covers not only material artifacts but also the intangible legacy of cultures such as customs, traditions, religion, literature, sciences and languages. These are passed on from generation to generation, often without their value as "cultural heritage" being noticed, and it is only in exceptional situations—for example, when their continued existence is in danger—that they are recognized and treated as important elements of a community’s shared history and that positive steps for their preservation are undertaken.<br /><br />Influenced by the work of organizations like the UNESCO since the second half of the 20th century, and the development of concepts like “world heritage” (i.e. concepts that have no precedent in history), one might be tempted to regard the preservation of cultural heritage as a modern invention; but the awareness—inherent in the concept—that for the continuity of a culture it is necessary to protect at least some of its specific features, is in fact as old as mankind itself.<br /><br />Although the term "cultural heritage" as such has a positive connotation, the treatment of its central elements does not necessarily have to be positive: when political or social situations change, there might also be a desire to destroy them in order to eliminate remembrances of particular aspects of the past.<br /><br />However, even without such radical change, the perception of what constitutes a culture’s shared heritage, and whether it is worthy of protection, may vary over the course of time. The recognition and acceptance of a given thing (an object, a monument or a custom) as a valuable part of cultural heritage is therefore always closely connected with the definition of cultural identities as well as with mechanisms of assessment and selection.<br /><br />Conceived with the aim to highlight historical depth and to bridge the gap between ancient and modern Near Eastern studies, the planned volume of META is dedicated to the long history of "cultural heritage" and its treatment in the Near and Middle East from the invention of writing (or even before) until the modern era.<br /><br />Thereby, lines of tradition and continuity (concerning, for example, languages, onomastics, religion, literature, art and architecture) will be discussed, as well as breaks with tradition, deliberate or accidental destruction of historical monuments (by wars, dam building, illegal excavations, etc.), the rediscovery of forgotten cultures (following excavations or the decipherment of ancient texts), the preservation and presentation of cultural residues (in museums and on archaeological sites), and the integration of previous accomplishments into contemporary ideologies and political programs (like Saddam Hussein’s affinity with Nebuchadnezzar II or the Shah of Persia’s "2500 year celebration of the Persian Empire").<br /><br />Further topics could address the role of antiques as economic factors (tourism) and issues of political negotiation (e.g., the granting of excavation licenses or the request for return of archaeological artifacts), the problem of dealing in antiques (including the discussion whether it is legitimate to publish material of unknown provenance), the question of who owns cultural heritage (e.g., the objects that came from the Near and Middle East to Europe or North America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries), and its artistic reception (both in Near Eastern and Western traditions).<br /><br />In any case, particular attention should be paid to the concept of "cultural heritage", to the question whether its reception happens consciously or unconsciously, and to the relationship between those who left this legacy and its later recipients.<br /><br />We are happy to accept articles from a broad array of disciplines which involve the Near and Middle East, including cultural studies, archeology, history, philology, anthropology, literature studies, sociology, political science, and economics.<br /><br />With regard to the interdisciplinary and debate-oriented culture of META, innovative approaches and controversial hypotheses are particularly welcome.<br /><br />Prior to developing a complete manuscript authors are asked to submit an abstract (300 words max.) including a working title, some key words, and 3-5 relevant bibliographic sources. The editors will then make a preliminary decision regarding the topic’s relevance to the journal’s aims and scope and will provide suggestions for developing the manuscript. Please consult our website for further information about the journal’s concept, sections, and guidelines for submissions.<br /><br />All articles that fall into the general framework of the journal but do not relate to the special topic "cultural heritage" will be taken into consideration for the "off-topic" section of Middle East – Topics & Arguments.<br /><br />The deadline for abstract submissions is January 15, 2014.<br />The deadline for article submissions is April 30, 2014.<br /><br />Manuscripts and manuscript proposals as well as any other editorial correspondence should be sent to: submissions#3@meta-journal.net.</p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2013-11-05Call for Papers #2
https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0003/announcement/view/3
<p>The peer-reviewed online journal “Middle East – Topics & Arguments” is calling for papers for its second issue, focusing on the “middle class,” to be published in spring 2014.<br />The “middle class” has recently become a matter of hot debate among politicians and researchers. However, definitions of this term and particular focuses of interest vary from region to region. In Europe, there are currently worries about the decline of the middle class and polarization of society. In contrast, crucial concerns in the Middle East are the growth of precarious middle classes along with a lack of upward mobility post-Islamism, and the role of middle classes in the “Arab revolts.”<br />In these discussions, the term “middle class” is used in three different ways. It can be used as a descriptive category, denoting individuals who belong to neither the upper class nor the lower class. Alternatively, the term is employed as an analytical category by theorists studying social structure and social inequality. Thirdly, the term is used as an affirmative category, in order to confirm the existence of a social majority.<br />A number of theoretical debates revolve around the notion of the “middle class” with regard to the Middle East. The term’s appropriateness in relation to the Middle East has been questioned by several authors, who point out the dominance of tribal and religious identities, a lack of capitalist structures, and dependence on external powers. Furthermore, it has been argued that a focus on the concept of “middle class” conceals more relevant dimensions of social structuring—namely religion, ethnicity and gender, or even cultural practices, as means of social distinction. Other scholars have applied theories of individualization to the Middle East, assuming that class differences in the region have been losing significance and are rather giving way to a flexible sense of individual belonging.<br />This issue of “Middle East – Topics & Arguments” aims to explore middle classes in the Middle East, or linked to the Middle East, from various perspectives. It will combine analytical examination of the concept “middle class” and empirical arguments about Middle Eastern middle classes, both as actors and as objects.<br />Thus, we particularly welcome contributions addressing the following topics:<br /> • Contributions reflecting on the emergence and formation of the middle class, the term middle class itself along with its usage in studying the Middle East, shedding light on its complexity and its analytical and normative connotations. How have middle classes evolved? How is this related to social structuring in different historical contexts? How have shifts in the fields of education, economy, and the like contributed to social differentiation on the one hand, and been used as a tool of social distinction on the other hand? In this sense, how can we understand “middle class” as an affirmative self-designation or respectively a performative set of “self-fashioning” practices that are displayed to achieve or preserve a specific social identity? How has the term “middle class” emerged and developed, especially in reference to the region? How have scholars defined and used it as an analytical and descriptive concept? Which is the category’s function in mechanisms of social differentiation, inclusion, and exclusion? To what extent is the term “middle class” used to describe the self, rather than the other? How are Middle Eastern “middle classes” perceived from outside perspectives? What is the geography of cleavages within certain middle classes—and consequently, transnationally connected sub-groups?<br /> • Contributions investigating Middle Eastern middle classes in the framework of globalization, migration, and transnationalization. What constitutes the so-called “global middle class”? How do tastes, habits, and products transcend borders and contribute to the formation and affirmation of social belonging? What can cultural phenomena that are emerging in pop culture and new media tell us about processes of universalization or differentiation of the “global middle classes”? Where are migrants, who move between different spaces, located in the respective social structures of different societies? How do mobile members of middle classes create and navigate in transnational spaces? What are the consequences of economic globalization and liberalization for their socio-economic position?<br /> • Contributions examining relations between middle classes and regime politics, which can be analyzed from either perspective. How have middle classes been politicized and evolved into political subjects? What is their political and ideological orientation? To what extent do they act in the interest of particular middle classes, or for interests of other social groupings? Are middle classes genuine political opposition actors, or rather linked to actors of power? Which policies and rhetoric do regimes take up toward the middle class? How are regimes’ concepts of middle classes embedded in ideologies or in discourses of legitimacy?<br />We call for articles from a broad array of disciplines including political science, sociology, anthropology, literature studies, cultural studies, media studies, linguistics, history, and economics. We encourage articles that embed the concept of middle class in a broader context of social inequality, thus expanding the narrow focus of class and including parallel factors such as gender or ethnicity. Articles should be explicit about their definition of middle class.<br />Prior to developing a complete manuscript authors are asked to submit an abstract (300 words max.) with a short CV (150 words max.) and 3-5 key bibliographic sources to the editors who will make a preliminary decision regarding the topic’s relevance to the journal’s aims and scope.<br />Please consult our website for further information about the journal’s concept, sections, and authors’ guidelines.<br />All articles that fall into the general framework of the journal, but do not relate to the special topic “middle class,” will be taken into consideration for the “off topic” section of “Middle East – Topics & Arguments.”<br />The deadline for abstract submissions is June 30, 2013. The deadline for article submissions is October 31, 2013.<br />Manuscripts and manuscript proposals and other editorial correspondence should be sent to: submissions@meta-journal.net.</p>Middle East - Topics & Arguments2013-04-30