A Companion to the Anthropology of the Middle East

A Companion to the Anthropology of the Middle East presents a comprehensive overview of current trends and future directions in anthropological research and activism in the modern Middle East.

• Named as one of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles of 2016
• Offers critical perspectives on the theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical goals of anthropology in the Middle East
• Analyzes the conditions of cultural and social transformation in the Middle Eastern region and its relations with other areas of the world
• Features contributions by top experts in various Middle East anthropological specialties
• Features in-depth coverage of issues drawn from religion, the arts, language, politics, political economy, the law, human rights, multiculturalism, and globalization

Notes on Contributors x

Acknowledgments xvii

Preface xviii

Part I Introduction: Theoretical and Conceptual Issues 1

1 Enduring Concerns, Resilient Tropes, and New Departures: Reading the Companion 3
Deniz Kandiyoti

2 Theory and Thematics in the Anthropology of the Middle East 15
Suad Joseph

3 Structure/Agency and the Anthropology of the Middle East 40
Soraya Altorki

4 Reflections on the Politics of Middle East Studies 72
Steven C. Caton

Part II Culture and Everyday Life 89

5 The Politics of Aesthetics in the Muslim Middle East 91
Martin Stokes

6 Dreams and the Miraculous 107
Amira Mittermaier

7 Refiguring Islam 125
Nada Moumtaz

8 In the Garden of the Sexes: Of Men, Women, Gaze, and Hair 151
Shahla Haeri

9 Trajectories of Gendered Labor 172
Livia Wick

10 The Politics of Poetry 188
J. Andrew Bush

Part III Social Relations and Social Movements 205

11 Medical Anthropology in the Middle East and North Africa 207
Jessica Newman and Marcia C. Inhorn

12 From Rural Development to Environmental Anthropology 233
Nicholas S. Hopkins

13 Displacement and Dispossession in the Middle East 249
Dawn Chatty

14 Anthropology and Humanitarianism in the Middle East 262
Ilana Feldman

15 Anthropologies of Middle Eastern Diasporas 282
Paul A. Silverstein

16a The Invention of the Mizrahim 316
Ella Shohat

16b The Mizrahi Cinema of Displacement 329
Ella Shohat

17 Social Movements and Revolution 338
Zeina Zaatari

Part IV Law, Politics, and the State 361

18 Justice between Islamic Sharia and Liberal Law: Remarks on the Egyptian Context 363
Hussein Ali Agrama

19 The Notion of Arab Culture and the “Colonial Present” 391
Mayssoun Sukarieh

20 Rethinking Anthropology of Neoliberalism in the Middle East 411
Julia Elyachar

21 “States of Aspiration”: Anthropology and New Questions for the Middle East 434
Michelle Obeid

22 Rethinking the “Post]Ottoman”: Anatolian Armenians as an Ethnographic Perspective 452
Hakem Al]Rustom

23 Reframing the Middle Eastern City: Thoughts on New Research 480
Kamran Asdar Ali

Part V Pop Culture and New Media 493

24 Middle Eastern Music and Popular Culture 495
John Philip Rode Schaefer

25 New Media and Electronic Networks 509
Mark Allen Peterson

Index 526

"...clear and engaging. Graduate sociocultural anthropology students, advanced undergraduates, and specialists will find this survey book valuable. Parts of this volume are also essential for policymakers since some of discussed anthropological themes are now at the core of contemporary world affairs." - Solaiman M. Fazel, AAA Book Forum Soraya Altorki is Professor of Anthropology at the American University in Cairo (AUC). She is the author or co-author of five books and many journal articles and book chapters in the area of the anthropology of the Arab world, including studies on the family, gender, youth, religion, and political economy. A Companion to the Anthropology of the Middle East presents a comprehensive overview of current trends and future directions in anthropological research and activism in the modern Middle East. Featuring contributions from a wide range of distinguished contemporary scholars of Middle East anthropology, chapters encompass the entire breadth of the region’s cultural, social, political, and religious diversity. Numerous issues covering various aspects of Middle Eastern anthropological concerns are addressed—topics drawn from religion, the arts, language, and politics to political economy, the law, human rights, multiculturalism, and globalization. Within each topic explored, individual authors focus on the most pressing methodological and theoretical concerns raised by contemporary scholars, along with key conceptual breakthroughs, gaps in the literature, and fruitful areas for further research. Timely and thought-provoking, A Companion to the Anthropology of the Middle East is an invaluable resource for anthropologists and other social scientists seeking a better understanding of the complex relationship between the East and West in our new global environments.

"Anyone seriously interested in the most recent anthropological research on the Middle East can do no better than read this excellent collection of essays. The editor is to be congratulated."

Talal Asad, City University of New York