The Politics of Gulf Studies

[nativeinformant]

So those of you on the blogosphere have heard and shared several stories about the difficulties and special considerations surrounding doing research and teaching in the Gulf. I feel like as a researcher I self-censor way more than I would while in the states and that I am constantly looking over my shoulder. These paranoias are actually more self-

Comments

[tessa2787]

the "uncles" sound pretty awful. physical virtues??? grrrrrr

[chu_hi]

Overwhelmingly weird. :\

I met someone today you would have loved to interview. Alas!

[nativeinformant]

really? feel free to share my email info if you think they would be interested in chatting online or something. sorry for the late reply. we have been in mexico :)

[chu_hi]

Speaking of late replies... one month later

[anonymous]

I'm sorry I had to back out of the conference - sounds like it was entertaining and educational. "Area Studies" are a fascinating field in fact to really look at the production of knowledge. It's interesting and insightful how fields such as South Asian studies are so radically different in the UK than in the US, and how they have evolved by the shifting demographics of scholars - slowly the "uncles" are being pushed out. Unfortunately, Gulf and Middle East studies still have a long way to go before the "uncles" are a minority....

As for a conference on feminist Gulf studies - count me in! Maybe in Cairo???

Hope the revisit to Dubai went well.

Cheers,
Chad/aka Ibn.Battuta.2007, rihla-journey.blogspot.com

[nativeinformant]

I agree - area studies is fascinating, esp its historic entanglement with the state (empire in the case of UK, and post- cold war in the case of US). What is interesting now is the fact that it is two way - states are actively promoting their study in academic institutions abroad, like the US in the Middle East, and like the case of the conference. It will be interesting to see how this evolves with global politics.

I will keep you posted on conference stuff. Right now, it is just at the idea stage...

[istara]

This made me laugh (the "uncles") as much as it made me want to cry

[nativeinformant]

While I agree with you on this in some ways, I also think there is another disturbing trend that goes along with this, and that is the corporatization of the university system. I see it daily in the way students (and their parents) act more and more like customers, bargaining for grades, and policing what professors teach in class. In the US at least there have been serious backlashes against those of us that teach women's studies, gay and lesbian studies, ethnic studies, and even evolution. And because the university is increasingly a money meking endeavor, I feel that academic freedom is being sacrificed well enough on its own, regardless of foreign money

[istara]

I agree there is no simple, single dichotomy

[istara]

It's already happened, some of the most prestigious universities in the US have been bought off by Arab regimes and forced to redefine "academic freedom" in a variety of ways. Georgetown, Cornell, among others, have been bought by the rulers of Qatar and set up campuses there that are gender segregated, racist, and, from what I've been told, also with institutionalized censorship in what can be taught....

Of course, the issue here is not the Wahhabization of western education, but, as Neha argues, it's corporatization - chasing the money tree. The British academy is already bankrupt, thanks to "Thatcherism", and thus dependent on selling at a high price useless degrees to kids from India and elsewhere. In the US, Nike and IBM, along with big pharmaceuticals, dictate a lot of the terms of how universities define themselves today.

It isn't about Wahhabism, but neo-liberalism, the privatization of academia, and the institutionalization of corporate fundamentalism....

Chad

[anonymous]

your so beautiful mis im not commentfor you