The fragments imagine the nation? Minorities in the modern Middle East and North Africa [Guest editors]

White, B. T. and Tejel Gorgas, J. (2016) The fragments imagine the nation? Minorities in the modern Middle East and North Africa [Guest editors]. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 43(2), pp. 135-139. (doi: 10.1080/13530194.2016.1138646)

[img]
Preview
Text
114535.pdf - Accepted Version

147kB

Abstract

Minorities in the Middle East have been a perennial object of scholarly attention. Minority politics have traditionally been considered as a problem: indeed, as one of the main reasons for the “unsuccessful” consolidation of the nation-state in the region. In recent years, with the events of the Arab Spring and its aftermath, minorities have been figured at times as an obstacle to broader processes of democratization and liberalization, or at others as being threatened by those same processes—and the violence that has ensued as they stalled. This special issue of BJMES attempts to develop more nuanced approaches to minority politics in the Middle East and North Africa, taking our inspiration from the title of Sami Zubaida’s article on minorities in modern Iraq, ‘The fragments imagine the nation’. In a collection of articles from a range of disciplines—history, comparative literature, religious studies, and politics, but all with a strong historical sense—we look at the different ways in which groups now defined as ‘minorities’ have understood themselves not in opposition to but as part of larger political identities.

Item Type:Articles (Editorial)
Keywords:Minorities, Middle East, North Africa, Ottoman Empire, Morocco, Arab Christians, Jews in the Arab world, Kurds, Algeria, Berbers, Lebanon, Iraq, Mandate Palestine, language politics.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:White, Dr Benjamin Thomas
Authors: White, B. T., and Tejel Gorgas, J.
Subjects:B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BM Judaism
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity
D History General and Old World > D History (General)
D History General and Old World > DS Asia
D History General and Old World > DT Africa
H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
Journal Name:British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
Journal Abbr.:BJMES
Publisher:Taylor & Francis
ISSN:1353-0194
ISSN (Online):1469-3542
Published Online:01 February 2016
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2016 British Society for Middle Eastern Studies
First Published:First published in British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 43(2):135-139
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record