Constance Quinlan Fantasia, An Algerian Cavalcade by Assia Djebar Postcolonialism can be understood as “a multifaceted and open process of interrogation and critique […] a process, a way of thinking through critical strategies [between self and other]” (Hiddleston, 2009, p.4). Assia Djebar’s Fantasia is emblematic of this task. Her “literature forms a site of experimentation,…
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‘Mediterraneanism’ as Colonialism
The extent to which Mediterranean ideas influenced French and Spanish imperial experiments in North Africa can be seen, not in the ways that they converge, but indeed in the manner to which they diverge and adapt according to each coloniser’s agenda.
Continue ReadingThe Biopolitics of Sex
Today biopower is everywhere. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, biopolitical infrastructure has framed our existence, even dictated it. We depend on our politicians and our world leaders to incorporate critical aspects of human biology, including contagion, into their political agendas in order to keep society alive. Nevertheless, biopolitical motives are not always directly employed in a positive alliance with human welfare.
Continue ReadingOrientalism in Irish Theatre
This essay will examine an orientalist playbill announcing the performance of the Christmas Pantomime Sinbad the Sailor at the Gaiety Theatre in 1892. I
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The Egg
The Egg stands in the heart of Martyrs’ Square, Beirut. It looks incongruous, almost like a big, ugly concrete whale, supplanted amidst the buzz and chaos of Lebanon’s capital city. Originally designed as a cinema, The Egg was supposed to be the crowing glory of architect Joseph Philippe Karam’s “Beirut City Centre” shopping centre and office space. Unfortunately, its construction was halted by the Lebanese Civil War and for decades it lay derelict.
Continue ReadingKafala, ‘sportwashing’, and the Qatar World Cup
With less than 18 months to go until the tournament, will anyone stand up to the Qatari state’s human rights abuses?
Continue ReadingPinkwashing Israel
Since the first Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897, propaganda and the “fight against misunderstanding” has been a crucial part of Zionism, feeding into the activities of the state of Israel since its foundation almost half a century later (Kouts, 2016).
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How Can I Help Palestine?
The violence and injustice of this May’s attempted forced evictions of several Palestinian families living in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah appalled observers around the world. This is no isolated event, as illustrated by ongoing attempts to evict Palestinian residents of Al-Bustan, Silwan in order to facilitate its settlement by the Ateret Cohanim organisation.
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Structuring the Patriarchy through Borders
The ‘kafala’ system is understood today as both an administrative apparatus to regulate migrant workers through a ‘sponsorship’ system, as well as a brutal ‘employment’ position for Migrant Domestic Workers (MDWs) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) and in the Arab states of Jordan and Lebanon (Dermitzaki and Riewendt, 2020).
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