Critiques of Power

About

Formed in 2017, the Critiques of Power (CoP) Working Group aims to critically engage with Arab thought and revisit and expand the archive of Arab theorizing on multiple forms of power. Through rereading seminal works, the group seeks to unearth some of the lesser known theoretical productions on power in the region, while focusing on how and when these works were produced and circulated, by whom, from where, and to what ends. The aim of the working group is to not only carry out intergenerational and interdisciplinary conversations between texts, ideas and concepts, but more importantly, to assess whether their critical tools could be put to use in critical practices in, and for, our present. 

Activities

Forum on Alternative Archival Practices  | December 14-15, 2018 in Beirut, Lebanon.

Arab Critical Theories and Horizons of Emancipation | June 26, July 3, July 10, 2020, online

Translating Critical Theories: Practices and Transformations | December 14, 2019 in Beirut, Lebanon. 

The CoP participated at the 1st Fatima Mernissi lecture series (2019) with an intervention on how the working group had read Mernissi’s work and her relevance to feminist discourse in Arab countries today.

Publications

To take a look at the working group’s publications, please visit the Beirut Forum.

Members

• Fadi Bardawil, Asian and Middle East studies, Duke University
• Hana Sleiman, Archives and History, Cambridge University
• Tofoul Abou Hodeib, History, University of Oslo
• Muneira Hoballah, Anthropology and Critical Theory, University of California Irvine
• Samer Frangie, Political Studies and Public Administration, American University of Beirut  
• Leyla Dakhli, Social and Intellectual History, Berlin Institute for Cultural Inquiry
• Hoda El Shakry, Comparative Literature, Penn State University
• Deema Kaedbey, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, ACSS