The I.B. Tauris Handbook to Gendering the Cultural Histories of the Modern Arab World

This superb volume features leading scholars in the field and captures the state of the art in gender studies in the Arab world. Its breadth, depth, and interdisciplinarity are impressive, and its cutting-edge research and cogent analysis demonstrate the vibrancy of the field. -- Beth Baron, Distinguished Professor, The City College of New York, US
Cognizant of recent developments toward memory studies, cultural history, and critical theory, the twenty-two essays included in this volume offer a much-needed critique of the meta-categories of colonialism, nationalism and modernism that for a long time have dominated the field of the cultural history of the Arab World. The Handbook does a superb job in defining some of the most interesting work currently being done in the field of cultural history of the Arab World drawing on innovative scholarship by feminist scholars in a plethora of academic disciplines that range from history, anthropology and psychology, to law, literary criticism and translation studies. By paying attention to people’s lived experiences and by being sensitive to narratives of marginalized groups, the essays bring to light unchartered territories in histories of the region. The Handbook is indispensable for anyone who wants to rethink the cultural histories of the Arab World in a gendered manner. * Khaled Fahmy, Professor, Tufts University, USA *
Combining the best of cultural history and memory studies and using gender as a multi-disciplinary theoretical lens this valuable Handbook could not be timelier. Appearing at a moment of catastrophic conflict and cataclysmic change in the Arab region, it acts as a powerful riposte and corrective to the effects of geopolitics on the production of knowledge by challenging dominant narratives through its rich compendium of the lived realities of the region and its culture. A must read for anyone with an interest in the Arab region and, more broadly, with gender, culture and memory. * Deniz Kandiyoti , Emerita Professor, SOAS, UK *
The book provides a sophisticated and up to date introduction to diverse disciplinary approaches to gender in the Arab region. Contributors explore the centrality of gender in producing and sustaining the cultural, social and political practices of men and women in the region. The editors frame this work within the transformative potential of the Arab Spring and the evolving conditions of knowledge production amid the ongoing war on Palestinians. * Dina Rizk Khoury, Emerita Professor, George Washington University., USA *