Colonial Legacies and Arab-Majority Regions - (Decolonization and Social Worlds) by Ali Kassem (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

How do colonial legacies shape contemporary realities in the Arab-majority region? What possibilities exist for decolonial futures?

This groundbreaking volume brings together interdisciplinary perspectives to explore power, resistance and knowledge production across diverse social, political and ecological landscapes. From refugee leadership and humanitarian aid to race, education, urban space and environmental crises, the book moves beyond simplistic narratives, engaging deeply with a variety of lived experiences and theoretical insights.

In the shadow of ongoing colonial violence, this collection is both an urgent critique and a hopeful call for new ways of knowing, resisting and reimagining the future of the Arab-majority region.

Review Quotes

'In this excellent volume Ali Kassem brings together a new generation of scholarship, from and on the region, working out what a decolonial approach means for the study of the Arab-majority world. Ranging across disciplines, and spanning from Morocco to Qatar, the chapters wrestle reflexively with theory and method as they take on a spectrum of topics including the state, race, aid, development, and urban planning and conservation. The book, with its incisive introduction and concluding chapters, is a must-read for those interested in decolonial knowledge production and praxis in the region in the 21st century.' Jonathan Wyrtzen, Yale University

'A vital, multivocal exploration of South-South dialogues. Ali Kassem curates a groundbreaking volume, forging new paths beyond centers of power/knowledge. This is essential reading for scholars of transnational imperial legacies and decolonial resistances.' Santiago Slabodsky, Hofstra University

'This fascinating collection of essays examines a range of political and social issues through a decolonial lens in Arab-majority countries. Covering subjects as diverse as the scarcity of green spaces in Beirut, the double burden faced by Arab scholars at home and in the diaspora, the role of race and extractive colonialism, and many more subjects besides, the authors in this volume ask us to rethink received political and heuristic categories and think with the people of the region.' Laleh Khalili, University of Exeter

'This volume is sure to open up transdisciplinary and transregional conversations about the crucial meaning of the decolonial and its liberatory potential. Theoretically sophisticated and in touch with critical international thought, it is distinctive not just for its grounding in empirically rich analyses of the current colonial condition in what Kassem calls the Arab-majority region, but its hopeful offer to think both about and for the region.' Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University

"The strength of this book lies in its central focus on how places - along with their institutions, associations, academic debates, and public opinion mobilization - contribute to transforming work organization within the platform economy." Social Policy Administration

About the Author

Ali Kassem is Lecturer in Sociology at the National University of Singapore.