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Belonging: Accessibility, Inclusion, and Christian Community (LifeGuide Bible Studies)
by Deborah Meyer AbbsGod created all of us for relationship with God and each other. Yet most people have felt left out at some point. For those with visible or invisible disabilities, attitudes and systems of ableism can particularly lead to deep hurt and barriers to fully participating in God's kingdom work. We all miss out when any members of the body of Christ are not included. In this nine-session LifeGuide Bible study, Deborah Abbs guides you to explore the deep love and acceptance of our heavenly Father and what it means for offering love and acceptance to one another. Through Old and New Testament stories and teachings on Christian community, we see how God responds in love to those who are often marginalized and excluded so that we too can welcome people of all different abilities. For over three decades LifeGuide Bible Studies have provided solid biblical content and raised thought-provoking questions—making for a one-of-a-kind Bible study experience for individuals and groups. This series has more than 130 titles on Old and New Testament books, character studies, and topical studies.
Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization: Practical Tools for Improving Teaching, Research, and Scholarship
by Abby Day, Lois Lee, Dave S.P. Thomas, and James SpickardDespite progress, the Western higher education system is still largely dominated by scholars from the privileged classes of the Global North. This book presents examples of efforts to diversify points of view, include previously excluded people, and decolonize curricula. What has worked? What hasn’t? What further visions do we need? How can we bring about a more democratic and just academic life for all? Written by scholars from different disciplines, countries, and backgrounds, this book offers an internationally relevant, practical guide to ‘doing diversity’ in the social sciences and humanities and decolonising higher education as a whole.
Black Women in Latin America and the Caribbean: Critical Research and Perspectives
by Julia S. Abdalla Angela Crumdy Bruna Cristina Pereira Ishan Gordon-Ugarte Castriela E. Hernández Reyes Eshe E. Lewis Cristiano Dos Rodrigues Edilza Correia Sotero Maziki Thame Melanie WhiteBlack Women in Latin America and the Caribbean: Critical Research and Perspectives employs an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach to examine Black cisgender women’s social, cultural, economic, and political experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean. It presents critical empirical research emphasizing Black women’s innovative, theoretical, and methodological approaches to activism and class-based gendered racism and Black politics. While there are a few single-authored books focused on Black women in Latin American and Caribbean, the vast majority of the scholarship on Black women in Latin America and the Caribbean has been published as theses, dissertations, articles, and book chapters. This volume situates these social and political analyses as interrelated and dialogic and contributes a transnational perspective to contemporary conversations surrounding the continued relevance of Black women as a category of social science inquiry. Many of the contributing authors are from Latin American and Caribbean countries, reflecting a commitment to representing the valuable observations and lived experiences of scholars from this region. When read together, the chapters offer a hemispheric framework for understanding the lasting legacies of colonialism, transatlantic slavery, plantation life, and persistent socio-economic and cultural violence.
Hamas and the Media: Politics and strategy (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Democratization and Government)
by Wael AbdelalThe Islamic resistance movement ‘Hamas’ is, arguably, one of the most important Palestinian organizations in recent decades. Since Hamas' establishment, it has extensively utilized media as a means of mobilization for its political and ideological agendas, and its tactics have undergone a remarkable evolution, from graffiti art to satellite broadcasting. This book presents the first systematic and historical contextualization of the development of Hamas' media strategy. It determines three key phases in Hamas’ development and explores the complex and important relationship at work between its politics and use of media. Assessing four elements of the Hamas media strategy; the media message (discourse), the media objectives, the infrastructure, and the target audience, this book tracks how Hamas grew its media infrastructure, and looks at how the idea of resistance has permeated the media discourse. Determining both tactical and strategic objectives and detailing the various layers to the target audience, it offers the first in-depth academic study of the Hamas media strategy. This book’s exploration of the key role the media plays in the Palestinian issue makes it a timely and relevant contribution to the study of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and a valuable resource for students, scholars and policymakers working in Middle Eastern studies.
Gender Research in Natural Resource Management: Building Capacities in the Middle East and North Africa (Earthscan Studies in Natural Resource Management)
by Malika Abdelali-Martini Aden Aw-HassanThe aim of this book is to highlight the role that gender research can play in understanding natural resource management and rural development issues in the Middle East and North Africa region and how hands-on training and mentoring can be used as a capacity enhancement approach. It presents findings of four research teams, working in three countries, Algeria, Lebanon and Morocco. The approach was to build the capacity of national teams through hands-on field research, mentoring and technical support, which is different from traditional training. The chapters present the results of the case studies used as learning platforms for the teams and reflections on this approach. The case studies demonstrate the capacity and skills that the teams have acquired. These teams were multi-disciplinary and included social scientists as well as specialists in water management, livestock production and rangelands and agronomy. The book provides grounded empirical examples for MENA academics, practitioners and development students concerned about ensuring gender-balanced rural development.
Road Freight and Privatisation: The Case of Egypt (Routledge Revivals)
by Nabil Abdel-Fattah Richard Gray Sharon CullinaneFirst published in 1999, this volume forms part of the Plymouth Studies in Contemporary Shipping series and focuses on Egyptian road freight privatisation. The series represents a unique collection of papers and edited texts from the leading maritime institute in Western Europe at the University of Plymouth. It covers all aspects of the industry from operations through to the logistical framework that supports the sector. Designed both for practising academics and the shipping and ports industry itself, the series, combining the output from some of the leading academic commentators in the world from the UK, Korea, Germany and Poland, is an original and novel contribution to the maritime debate.
Islamophobia and Everyday Multiculturalism in Australia (Studies in Migration and Diaspora)
by Randa Abdel-FattahThis book explores Islamophobia in Australia, shifting attention from its victims to its perpetrators by examining the visceral, atavistic nature of people’s feelings and responses to the Muslim ‘other’ in everyday life. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, Islamophobia and Everyday Multiculturalism sheds light on the problematisations of Muslims amongst Anglo and non-Anglo Australians, investigating the impact of whiteness on minorities’ various reactions to Muslims. Advancing a micro-interactional, ethnographically oriented perspective, the author demonstrates the ways in which Australia’s histories and logics of racial exclusion, thinking and expression produce processes in which whiteness socializes, habituates and ‘teaches’ ‘racialising’ behaviour, and shows how national and global events, moral panics, and political discourse infiltrate everyday encounters between Muslims and non-Muslims, producing distinct structures of feeling and discursive, affective and social practices of Islamophobia. As such, it will be of interest to social scientists with interests in race and ethnicity, migration and diaspora and Islamophobia.
Indian Muslims and Citizenship: Spaces for Jihād in Everyday Life (Routledge Advances in South Asian Studies)
by Julten AbdelhalimThrough the creation of post-colonial citizenship, India adopted a hybridisation of specific secular and western conception of citizenship. In this democratic framework, Indian Muslims are observed on how they make use of the spaces and channels to accommodate their Islamic identity within a secular one. This book analyses how the socio-political context shapes citizens’ perceptions of multiple variables, such as their sense of political efficacy, agency, conception of citizenship rights and belief in democracy. Based on extensive surveys and interviews and through presenting and investigating the various meanings of jihād, the author explores the usage of non-Eurocentric conceptual approaches to the study of postcolonial and Muslim societies, in particular the meaning it carries in the psyche of the Muslim community. She argues that through means of argumentative and spiritual jihād, Indian Muslims fight their battle towards a realisation of citizenship ideals despite the unfavourable conditions of intra and inter community conflicts. Presenting new examinations of Islamic identity and citizenship in contemporary India, this book will be a useful contribution to the study of South Asian Studies, Religion, Islam, and Race and Ethnicity.
Sudan: The Gezira Scheme and Agricultural Transition
by Abbas Abdelkarim Tony BarnettThe authors propose that the Gezira scheme has played a paradoxical role in the capitalist transformation of the Sudan - reinforcing some non-capitalist production relations while at the same time acting as an engine for the peripheral capitalist development.
Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces
by Elamin AbdelmahmoudAn enlightening and deliciously witty collection of essays on Blackness, faith, pop culture, and the challenges—and rewards—of finding one&’s way in the world, from a BuzzFeed editor and podcast host.&“A memoir that is immense in its desire to give . . . a rich offering of image, of music, of place.&”—Hanif Abdurraqib, author of A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black PerformanceONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—The MillionsAt twelve years old, Elamin Abdelmahmoud emigrates with his family from his native Sudan to Kingston, Ontario, arguably one of the most homogenous cities in North America. At the airport, he&’s handed his Blackness like a passport, and realizes that he needs to learn what this identity means in a new country. Like all teens, Abdelmahmoud spent his adolescence trying to figure out who he was, but he had to do it while learning to balance a new racial identity and all the false assumptions that came with it. Abdelmahmoud learned to fit in, and eventually became &“every liberal white dad&’s favorite person in the room.&” But after many years spent trying on different personalities, he now must face the parts of himself he&’s kept suppressed all this time. He asks, &“What happens when those identities stage a jailbreak?&” In his debut collection of essays, Abdelmahmoud gives full voice to each and every one of these conflicting selves. Whether reflecting on how The O.C. taught him about falling in love, why watching wrestling allowed him to reinvent himself, or what it was like being a Muslim teen in the aftermath of 9/11, Abdelmahmoud explores how our experiences and our environments help us in the continuing task of defining who we truly are. With the perfect balance of relatable humor and intellectual ferocity, Son of Elsewhere confronts what we know about ourselves, and most important, what we&’re still learning.
Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces
by Elamin AbdelmahmoudFrom one of the most beloved media personalities of his generation comes a one-of-a-kind reflection on Blackness, faith, language, pop culture, and the challenges and rewards of finding your way in the world.Professional wrestling super fandom, Ontario's endlessly unfurling 401 highway, late nights at the convenience store listening to heavy metal—for writer and podcast host Elamin Abdelmahmoud, these are the building blocks of a life. Son of Elsewhere charts that life in wise, funny, and moving reflections on the many threads that weave together into an identity. Arriving in Canada at age 12 from Sudan, Elamin's teenage years were spent trying on new ways of being in the world, new ways of relating to his almost universally white peers. His is a story of yearning to belong in a time and place where expectation and assumptions around race, faith, language, and origin make such belonging extremely difficult, but it's also a story of the surprising and unexpected ways in which connection and acceptance can be found. In this extraordinary debut collection, the process of growing—of trying, failing, and trying again to fit in—is cast against the backdrop of the memory of life in a different time, and different place—a Khartoum being bombed by the United States, a nation seeking to define and understand itself against global powers of infinite reach. Taken together, these essays explore how we pick and choose from our experience and environment to help us in the ongoing project of defining who we are—how, for instance, the example of Mo Salah, the profound grief practices of Islam, the nerdy charm of The O.C.'s Seth Cohen, and the long shadow of colonialism can cohere into a new and powerful whole. With the perfect balance of relatable humor and intellectual ferocity, Son of Elsewhere confronts what we know about ourselves, and most important, what we&’re still learning.
America in An Arab Mirror: Images of America in Arabic Travel Literature: An Anthology
by K. Abdel-MalekThis distinguished anthology presents for the first time in English travel essays by Arabic writers who have visited America in the second half of the century. The view of America which emerges from these accounts is at once fascinating and illuminating, but never monolithic. The writers hail from a variety of viewpoints, regions, and backgrounds, so their descriptions of America differently engage and revise Arab pre-conceptions of Americans and the West. The country figures as everything from the unchanging Other, the very antithesis of the Arab self, to the seductive female, to the Other who is both praiseworthy and reprehensible.
A Political Economy of Arab Education: Policies and Comparative Perspectives (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Society)
by Mohamed Alaa Abdel-MoneimThe failure of reform policies in areas of critical importance to Arab populations such as health and education played a central role in igniting the Arab Awakening, yet this policy perspective has been largely absent from recent studies of the region. Arab regimes most reliant on repression to guarantee their survival were also those most vulnerable to mass politics. Where threats to regime survival have been limited, so have more meaningful reforms been possible, finding an alternative to political change through focusing on "soft policy" areas such as education. A Political Economy of Arab Education offers a comprehensive analysis of K-12 education systems in Arab countries, deepening understanding of their administrative structures and outcomes, and exploring how political considerations have impacted the ability of Arab regimes to engage in meaningful reform. Taking a unique comparative political economy perspective, it examines the reasons behind policy stagnation in Arab countries, addressing the effects of size, history and political stability on the design and implementation of policies and administrative structures. Its informed analysis and comparison of education systems provides new insight into Arab regimes and highlights factors pulling them towards either stagnation or reform. Examining the sustainability of reforms and establishing the benefits of engaging in meaningful change, this book sheds light on why some regimes survived the Arab Spring while others crumbled and formulates convincing predictions on the potential for future regime change in the region. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of Middle Eastern Studies, International and Comparative Education and Development Studies.
The Architecture of Home in Cairo: Socio-Spatial Practice of the Hawari's Everyday Life
by Mohamed Gamal AbdelmonemThe hawari of Cairo - narrow non-straight alleyways - are the basic urban units that have formed the medieval city since its foundation back in 969 AD. Until early in the C20th, they made up the primary urban divisions of the city and were residential in nature. Contemporary hawari, by contrast, are increasingly dominated by commercial and industrial activity. This medieval urban maze of extremely short, broken, zigzag streets and dead ends are defensible territories, powerful institutions, and important social systems. While the hawari have been studied as an exemplar for urban structure of medieval Islamic urbanism, and as individual building typologies, this book is the first to examine in detail the socio-spatial practice of the architecture of home in the city. It investigates how people live, communicate and relate to each other within their houses or shared spaces of the alleys, and in doing so, to uncover several new socio-spatial dimensions and meanings in this architectural form. In an attempt to re-establish the link between architecture past and present, and to understand the changing social needs of communities, this book uncovers the notion of home as central to understand architecture in such a city with long history as Cairo. It firstly describes the historical development of the domestic spaces (indoor and outdoor), and provides an inclusive analysis of spaces of everyday activities in the hawari of old Cairo. It then broadens its analysis to other parts of the city, highlighting different customs and representations of home in the city at large. Cairo, in the context of this book, is represented as the most sophisticated urban centre in the Middle East with different and sometimes contrasting approaches to the architecture of home, as a practice and spatial system. In order to analyse the complexity and interconnectedness of the components and elements of the hawari as a 'collective home', it layers its narratives of architectural and social developments as a domestic environment over the past two hundred years, and in doing so, explores the in-depth social meaning and performance of spaces, both private and public.
People, Care and Work in the Home (Routledge Advances in Sociology)
by Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem Antonio ArgandoñaIntroducing novel theoretical, empirical and practical investigations with case studies from UK, Europe, South America and South East Asia, the book offers a novel global outlook on how contemporary homes are facing genuine challenges from operational, economic, spatial, social and wellbeing perspectives. The changing demographics of our modern society have inevitably impacted the dynamics and relationships within the home from being personal and private to that of multiple work relationships; domestic work, care for older people, or supporting people with special needs. Whilst the home is a concept universally experienced, permeating every aspect of our lives, it remains an entity whose influence on health and wellbeing is poorly understood. This book brings together 17 different contributions from scholars, researchers and practitioners from different disciplinary and professional backgrounds including three feature articles by leading figures, such as Lord Best and Baroness Hollins. The chapters are organised within three parts that look at the triangle of people + work + care in the home. At a time when homes are increasingly becoming local hubs for care and wellbeing, this volume is a critical and useful addition to current literature in the social sciences, humanities, economics, culture, care and wellbeing in the domestic sphere.
Al Jazeera and Democratization: The Rise of the Arab Public Sphere (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Democratization and Government)
by Ezzeddine AbdelmoulaAl Jazeera and Democratization analyses the increasing role of the media in political transformations with a special emphasis on the Arab world. Taking the Al Jazeera media network as a case study, the author explains how engaging the public and providing platforms for open debate and free expression contributed to the emergence of a new vibrant Arab public sphere. The launch of Al Jazeera in 1996 was a significant event that led to subsequent changes both in Arab media and politics. Among these changes, the Arab spring is certainly the most remarkable. This unprecedented phenomenon has already resulted in political change in a number of countries and is expected to generate a democratizing wave and reshape the face of the region. The Arab spring provides us with a telling empirical example where the interplay between media and politics is manifest. The public sphere that has emerged out of this newly communicative environment has undoubtedly played its role in the current political transformations. In this context, Arab democratization is no longer an abstract, it is rather a developing process that needs our attention and requires concerted scholarly efforts. Highly topical, this book provides a fresh theoretical perspective on Arab democratization in light of the Arab Spring, and is essential reading for researchers and students of Middle East Politics, Media Studies and Democratization.
Islamic Movement In Egypt
by AbdelnasserFirst published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Children's Literature, Domestication, and Social Foundation: Narratives of Civilization and Wilderness (Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature)
by Layla AbdelRahimThis study of children's literature as knowledge, culture, and social foundation bridges the gap between science and literature and examines the interconnectedness of fiction and reality as a two-way road. The book investigates how the civilized narrative orders experience by means of segregation, domestication, breeding, and extermination, arguing instead that the stories and narratives of wilderness project chaos and infinite possibilities for experiencing the world through a diverse community of life. AbdelRahim engages these narratives in a dialogue with each other and traces their expression in the various disciplines and books written for both children and adults, analyzing the manifestation of fictional narratives in real life. This is both an inter- and multi-disciplinary endeavor that is reflected in the combination of research methods drawn from anthropology and literary studies as well as in the tracing of the narratives of order and chaos, or civilization and wilderness, in children's literature and our world. Chapters compare and contrast fictional children's books that offer different real-world socio-economic paradigms, such as A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh projecting a civilized monarcho-capitalist world, Nikolai Nosov's trilogy on The Adventures of Dunno and Friends presenting the challenges and feats of an anarcho-socialist society in evolution from primitivism towards technology, and Tove Jansson's Moominbooks depicting the harmony of anarchy, chaos, and wildness. AbdelRahim examines the construction, transmission, and acquisition of knowledge in children’s literature by visiting the very nature of literature, culture, and language and the civilized structures that domesticate the world. She brings radically new perspectives to the knowledge, culture, and construction of human beings, making an invaluable contribution to a wide range of disciplines and for those engaged in revolutionizing contemporary debates on the nature of knowledge, human identity, and the world.
Egypt's Long Revolution: Protest Movements and Uprisings (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Democratization and Government)
by Maha AbdelrahmanThe millions of Egyptians who returned to the heart of Cairo and Egypt’s other major cities for 18 days until the eventual toppling of the Mubarak regime were orderly without an organisation, inspired without a leader, and single-minded without one guiding political ideology. This book examines the decade long of protest movements which created the context for the January 2011 mass uprising. It tells the story of Egypt’s long revolutionary process by exploring its genealogy in the decade before 25 January 2011and tracing its development in the three years that have followed. The book analyses new forms of political mobilisation that arose in response to ever-increasing grievances against authoritarian politics, deteriorating living conditions for the majority of Egyptians as a consequence of neo-liberal policies and the machinery of crony capitalism, and an almost total abandoning by the state of its responsibilities to society at large. It argues that the increasing societal pressures from different quarters such as labour groups, pro-democracy movements and ordinary citizens during this period culminated in an intensifying culture of protest and activism that was vital in the lead up to the dramatic overthrow of Mubarak. It, also, argues that the features of these new forms of activism and political mobilisation have contributed to shaping the political process since the downfall of Mubarak. Based on research undertaken since 2002, Egypt’s Long Revolution is an essential resource for scholars and researchers with an interest in social movements, comparative politics and Middle East Politics in general.
The Gender Pay Gap: Understanding the Numbers
by Fatma Abdel-Raouf Patricia M. BuhlerClosing the gender pay gap begins with awareness and understanding of the state of the gap. This hybrid book that serves as a resource for both the academic and corporate communities, builds the reader’s awareness of the gender pay gap, its magnitude and ramifications, and provides action plans to address the challenge. Much of the existing literature on the gender pay gap provides an excellent foundation in stating facts and inferences; yet, the reader is often left wondering "now what?" This book tells the story of the state of the gap by the numbers and then offers specific actions that can be taken to achieve equity. The authors combine backgrounds in statistics and management/HR to provide a unique perspective in painting a broader overview of the issue, examining the history of the gender pay gap, its global impact, and how nations are addressing the issue. The book shines a light on the wide-ranging effects of the gap, including women’s poverty rates, student loans, economic growth, childhood poverty, and corporate profits, and offers insights to help close it with best practices of select organizations. Upper-level undergraduate, postgraduate, and executive education students will appreciate the clarity and conciseness of this guide to understanding and solving an important human resources issue. The inclusion of a brief instructor’s manual and PowerPoint slides for each chapter differentiates this book and adds to the ease of adoption in both the academic and corporate setting.
Modern Egyptian Women, Fashion and Faith: Discourses and Representations
by Amany Abdelrazek-AlsiefyThis book discusses Egyptian Muslim women’s dress as the social, political and ideological signifier of the changing attitudes towards Western modernity. It employs women’s clothing styles as a feminist act that provides rich insights into the power and limits of legal regulations and hegemonic discourses in constructing gendered and cultural borders in the modern Egyptian public sphere. Furthermore, through highlighting marginalized but significant models and historical moments of cultural exchange between Muslim and Western cultures through female dress, the book tells a third story beyond the binary model of an assumed modest oppressed traditional Muslim woman vis-à-vis consumer emancipated modern Western woman in mainstream Western discourse and literary representation.
Islamic Fascism
by Hamed Abdel-SamadThis polemic against Islamic extremism highlights the striking parallels between contemporary Islamism and the 20th-century fascism embodied by Hitler and Mussolini. Like those infamous ideologies, Islamism today touts imperialist dreams of world domination, belief in its inherent superiority, contempt for the rest of humanity, and often a murderous agenda. The author, born and raised in Egypt and now living in Germany, not only explains the historical connections between early 20th-century fascist movements in Europe and extremist factions in Islam, but he also traces the fascist tendencies in mainstream Islam that have existed throughout its history.Examining key individuals and episodes from centuries past, the book shows the influence of Islam's earliest exploits on current politics in the Islamic world. The author's incisive analysis exposes the fascist underpinnings of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Shia regime in Iran, ISIS, Salafi and Jihadist ideologies, and more. Forcefully argued and well-researched, this book grew out of a lecture on Islamic fascism that the author gave in Cairo, resulting in a call for his death by three prominent Egyptian clerics.From the Hardcover edition.
Tunisia's International Relations since the 'Arab Spring': Transition Inside and Out (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Democratization and Government)
by Tasnim Abderrahim Laura-Theresa Krüger Salma Besbes Katharina McLarrenWhen popular protests started in Tunisia in late 2010, few anticipated the implications these events would have for the entire Arab region. In the following years, this region witnessed deep changes, increased divisions, and even failing states. Meanwhile, Tunisia managed to assert itself as a new democracy. How did this small country manage its democratic transition within such a short period? And what implications has this had for its foreign policy and its role in international politics? This book assesses Tunisia’s transition ‘inside and out’ from four angles: Tunisian polity and politics which provide the framework for its foreign policy since the ‘Arab Spring’; bilateral relations before and after the ‘Arab Spring’; Tunisia’s activism in international organisations as well as their presence in Tunisia; and transnational issues in Tunisia. Drawing on a broad range of primary sources, including authors’ own interview material conducted with politicians and representatives of civil society and international NGOs involved in the transition process, the book shows that since 2011 Tunisia has not only developed fundamentally at the domestic level, but also at the level of external relations. New and old alliances, a broadening of relations, and new activism of civil society and of Tunisia in international organisations certify that Tunisia has the potential to play an increasingly important role regionally as well as internationally. Providing an encompassing picture of Tunisia’s changed role and successful transition from an autocracy to a democracy, the book allows students and scholars in the field to understand the ‘last country standing’ better, a country that both the scientific community and the political scene should not underestimate for the promises it holds.
Ex-Centric Migrations: Europe and the Maghreb in Mediterranean Cinema, Literature, and Music
by Hakim AbderrezakEx-Centric Migrations examines cinematic, literary, and musical representations of migrants and migratory trends in the western Mediterranean. Focusing primarily on clandestine sea-crossings, Hakim Abderrezak shows that despite labor and linguistic ties with the colonizer, migrants from the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia) no longer systematically target France as a destination, but instead aspire toward other European countries, notably Spain and Italy. In addition, the author investigates other migratory patterns that entail the repatriation of émigrés. His analysis reveals that the films, novels, and songs of Mediterranean artists run contrary to mass media coverage and conservative political discourse, bringing a nuanced vision and expert analysis to the sensationalism and biased reportage of such events as the Mediterranean maritime tragedies.
Elusive Jannah
by Cawo M. AbdiAs a Somali working since high school in the United Arab Emirates, Osman considers himself "blessed" to be in a Muslim country, though citizenship, with the security it offers, remains elusive. For Ardo, smuggled out of Somalia to join her husband in South Africa, insecurities are of a more immediate, physical kind, and her economic prospects and legal status are more uncertain. Adam, in the United States--a destination often imagined as an earthly Eden, or jannah, by so many of his compatriots--now sees heaven in a return to Somalia.The stories of these three people are among the many that emerge from mass migration triggered by the political turmoil and civil war plaguing Somalia since 1988. And they are among the diverse collection presented in eloquent detail in Elusive Jannah, a remarkable portrait of the very different experiences of Somali migrants in the UAE, South Africa, and the United States. Somalis in the UAE, a relatively closed Muslim nation, are a minority within a large South Asian population of labor migrants. In South Africa, they are part of a highly racialized and segregated postapartheid society. In the United States they find themselves in a welfare state with its own racial, socioeconomic, and political tensions. A comparison of Somali settlements in these three locations clearly reveals the importance of immigration policies in the migrant experience.Cawo M. Abdi's nuanced analysis demonstrates that a full understanding of successful migration and integration must go beyond legal, economic, and physical security to encompass a sense of religious, cultural, and social belonging. Her timely book underscores the sociopolitical forces shaping the Somali diaspora, as well as the roles of the nation-state, the war on terror, and globalization in both constraining and enabling their search for citizenship and security.