‘Global Citizen’ and the Dislocated Generation in the United Arab Emirates (original) (raw)
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Randeree, K., Expats and Emiratisation: Plotting a Course for a Sustainable Future, The 2007 Gulf Conference, 4 - 7 July 2007, Institute of Arab & Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK. Middle Eastern countries are largely perceived as having economies of limited competitiveness in a global context. This is in large part due to the political, economic, environmental and societal challenges these nations face. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is no exception, as it faces many challenges including current and future demographics, employment of its national workforce, sustainability issues, educational concerns, as well as diversity and gender related problems. In truth, a well designed Emiratisation process (a policy for reducing the demand for expatriate workers) coupled with the active participation of Emirati women in mainstream society, including the private sector, can help in alleviating many of the UAE’s problems. The challenge for the rulers of the UAE, is to engage its national human resource in education and employment whilst moving in step with advanced nations and respecting Arab and Islamic tradition. Thus, due in part to the advancement and comparatively liberal nature of the UAE in comparison to other countries on the peninsula, the international community looks to the UAE, and the city of Dubai in particular, as a model for a new, prosperous and sustainable 21st century Middle East. The implications of the research presented here are that there are a number of challenges facing Emirati society and by implication the Arabian Gulf region, which need to be addressed if change and advancement envisaged by the region is to be realised.
A Perspective from the Middle East
Oxford Scholarship Online, 2017
This chapter argues that, while we can conceive of a ‘global’ or a ‘regional’ governance structure, a ‘critical regional perspective’ is not possible for three reasons. First, there is a problem of governance as a technology of ordering the world that requires the production of abstracted forms of knowledge; second, the problem of determining what a critical ‘regional’ perspective on global governance might be; and third, a critical perspective that would account for the daily lives of people cannot be produced by regional institutions, which are rarely representative of popular democratic movements. In the Middle East, the Arab League has historically been weak, reflecting turbulent regional power relations. As such, it is difficult to identify a regional perspective based on the League’s governance practices. If a regional political counter-perspective to global governance is not possible (as in the Middle East), one cannot speak of a cultural (counter) perspective on governance.
Syllabus: Understanding the Arab World (advanced undergraduate seminar, fall 2019)
2019
How do we understand the Arab Middle East and North Africa? This course draws on diverse perspectives about the region, including the work of Arab intellectuals, political activists, and cultural icons who have been active in a rapidly changing society from the late 19th to the early 21st centuries. The first part of the course looks at how the Arab world itself has sought to answer the question – ‘who are the Arabs?’ - from the cultural revival of the Nahda to the radical nationalisms of the 20th century to 21st century identity politics, social media, and the new generation of Arab youth. The second part of the course looks at the politics of knowledge: what concepts, approaches, and paradigms have scholars in the West used to study the Arab world - and how does this foreign scholarship relate to contemporary geopolitics? We also consider the varied forms that politics may take under conditions of limited freedoms. Additionally, we will consider representations of the Arab Middle East & North Africa in popular culture, including tv, film, novels, and video games.
Social Sciences in the Arab World: Forms of Presence
2016
Last month, Carnegie Corporation of New York hosted an event marking the launch of the inaugural Arab Social Sciences Report, "Social Sciences in the Arab World: Forms of Presence." According to lead author, Mohammed Bamyeh, the report uncovers a "silent revolution of knowledge production" in the Arab region. Social transformation has enlivened the region's campuses, think tanks, and social media networks, and recent years have seen a sharp rise in the number of universities and research centers engaged in matters of political science, economics, sociology, and history. Bamyeh stressed the vital role the report has played in highlighting growth and development that may have gone otherwise unnoticed, stating that without this effort, the "silent revolution" would remain an undocumented phenomenon. Grantees in this story The difficulties encountered in developing and publishing the report illustrate the inherent obstacles facing the social sciences in...
Course Overview: Globalisation in the Middle East Pristina International Summer School, Kosovo, 2015
The aim is to acquaint you with the dynamics and main trends and events in the International Politics of the Middle East in the context of a globalised world. It is intended to help you explore whether and how particular International Relations approaches may be applied to the Middle East. You will explore the range of views held by different authors and will be encouraged both to engage critically with them and develop your own positions.
Durham Middle East Papers, 2018
This special issue of the Durham Middle East Papers has been sought as a glance at the IMEIS Annual Conference. It features the Opening Remarks by keynote speaker Dr Ipek Demir from Leicester University about the issue of diversity concerning knowledge production and decoloniality of this knowledge. This was followed by Matthew Hedges’s study of the role of the Circassian and Chechen minorities in the security regime of King Hussein of Jordan. Finally, Umair Jamal explored how Pakistan’s ‘Blasphemy law’ undermines the countries’ religious diversity. I hope the readers of this special issue find it informative and enjoyable read and foster their interest in the Islamic World and in the activities of the IMEIS.
Global Identities: Embedding the Middle East and North Africa Region in the Wider World
This paper outlines the ways in which the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been embedded in global identity processes and structures in the post-2011 period. It assesses MENA social and political developments in relation to global ideational and identity factors. Important among these is the imagined yet increasingly widespread and pernicious idea of a clash between “Islam” and “the West”, (mis)conceived as homogeneous identities. However, as the paper shows, global or universalist identity perceptions, in the form of support for human rights and democratic values, also influence the MENA region. Dynamic global youth identities and cultures also influence an exceptionally “young” region and vie for the loyalty of youth against other identities. Changing dynamics of ethnic and religious identities among diasporas, which link the region with the wider world, modify social and political contexts within the MENA, especially some of its post-2011 conflicts.