Papers by Noa Shandlinger
Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 2019
Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East (2019) 39 (2): 313–327
The article... more Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East (2019) 39 (2): 313–327
The article, based on two years of fieldwork, examines the meaning of displacement for Palestinian citizens of Israel who live in Jaffa. Specifically, it focuses on one key site, the Clock Tower Square, historically a hub of Palestinian urban economy. The discussion follows a group of local Palestinian activists who consciously chose the square to stage protests, thus reclaiming Arab Jaffa's material heritage and directly challenging recent histories of spatial expropriation by the Israeli state, the Tel Aviv municipality, and real estate developers. The analysis below also proposes a multiscalar understanding of these protests as a reclamation of Jaffa's Arab heritage as well as an act of remapping the nation and its colonized homeland. In this sense, the Clock Tower Square activists produce “wishful landscapes” that work to undermine the colonizer's project of normalizing occupation.
Rivista di studi sulle trasformazioni della città e del territorio in età moderna
Conferences by Noa Shandlinger
Much has been written on the professionalization of history and the rise of the modern nation-sta... more Much has been written on the professionalization of history and the rise of the modern nation-state. Clinging to mythical origins as basis for legitimacy articulates well with the modern state's practice of archiving, celebrating and supplying " evidence " of ethnic and cultural authenticity. The purpose of this session is to expand the conversation about the state and its archives. Jacques Derrida identified archives as sites of disease or evil, at the intersection of the will to power and an obsession with beginnings (commandment and commencement). Archives are not only repositories of the past the state wishes to preserve, documents not simply " there " to be " discovered " by the erudite historian. Archives are organized to tell specific stories and silence uncomfortable ones. Reflecting on the archives as sites of power, participants in this panel will ask: how are archival silences produced and moreover-can historians make these deliberate silences heard? Problematizing the 'feverish' (to quote Derrida) obsession with archival evidence, we wish to question the assumption that state-archived documents are where the 'smoking gun,' or the undeniable evidence of past injustice, is found. What if that evidence never enters the archive? What if we only find its absence? These questions have become more urgent in the " post-fact " age, with the undermining of " evidence " as a concept and as a tangible and knowable artifact. Our questioning of common assumptions about the nature of evidence is designed to bolster history as a method and an insistence that although archival research may prove disappointing, it remains indispensable if we ask the right questions. If you're interested in being part of the panel, please email your paper abstract and title (up to 300 words) and a biographical paragraph (include your affiliation, city, state, country and email address) to [email protected] and [email protected] by February 9.
The Anthropology of Hope and the Futures of the Middle East
How would an anthropology of hope lo... more The Anthropology of Hope and the Futures of the Middle East
How would an anthropology of hope look like in region too often studied within tropes like 'violence' and 'terror'? Hope, as a structure of feeling and a forward-looking cluster of promise, has a checkered history and genealogy in the Middle East. In colonial regimes, hope may assume the form of accommodation, opportunism and a wishful thinking to reap the benefits of collaboration with foreign powers. This was the scope of action of many Levantine minorities (Greek, Turkish, Italian, Jewish) as well as indigenous elites under French and British colonial rule from the mashriq to the maghreb (notably the Maronites in Lebanon and urban Jewish elites in Algiers). Anti-colonial struggle and Third Worldism framed hope within the national liberation movements. From Al-Wafd Party in Egypt to Nasserism and pan-Arabism, hope was predicated on political mass mobilization. From the the 1960s the PLO came to symbolize the global struggle for decolonization advancing notions such as the armed struggle (kifah musallah) and steadfastenss (Sumud). In these movements hope was framed within a series of strategies and tactics of active and passive resistance. Throughout the region universalist ideologies such as Marxism and Islamism offered alternative programs for dissolving structures of power. The postcolonial condition continues to challenge notions of resistance and hope for change as national liberation movements failed to deliver on their promise while in Palestine the colonial occupation still endures. The 2011 Arab Uprisings were yet another movement of a hopeful trans-regional mobilization which tragically shattered hopes for a better future. While the politics of hope is inevitably rooted in collective imaginaries, ethnographers cannot overlook personal agency and the ways in which life histories articulate tensions with forms of mobilization. In addition, hope is often very much about the ways in which people choose to remember the past as it is about fantasizing futurity. This panel invites papers from a variety of disciplinary approaches to address hope in theory and practice as it multiply manifests all over the MENA.
Organizers: Noa Shaindlinger (University of Toronto Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations) [email protected] and Daniel Monterescu (Central European University, Sociology and Social Anthropology) [email protected]
Please send your abstracts by February 8. We envisage a panel at the AAA and a separate panel at MESA
Syllabi by Noa Shandlinger
So what is this course about, anyway? This is your gateway into the world of historians. Sounds d... more So what is this course about, anyway? This is your gateway into the world of historians. Sounds dramatic, but in this course, you will get acquainted with some of the most important aspects of the historian's work: from finding sources, to interpretation and constructing an evidence-based argument and narrative. We will also spend considerable time discussing the nature of history, who-and what-it is good for, how it is sometimes used and abused, and what is its public role. By the end of the semester you will gain a better understanding who YOU are as a practitioner of historical research and writing; you will build a solid foundation for your future work, whether in the history major/minor and beyond; and you will confidently voice your own ideas in an increasingly polished and, dare I say, professional manner. • E-portfolio on Google Sites, 10 entries (20%) Book Review Your second assignment will be a book review, for which you will have to read a historical monograph and assess the way the author uses their sources, structure their main argument, and weave their narrative. You can either purchase or borrow your chosen monograph using inter-library loan service, but do not wait until the last minute.
Course Description This course is an invitation to reconsider our preconceived notions about the ... more Course Description This course is an invitation to reconsider our preconceived notions about the modern Middle East, by way of introduction to the rich history of the region since 1900. You will learn about the legacies of the Ottoman Empire and of Pan-Arabism in the era of decolonization. We will also pay close attention to the lingering involvement of the US in the region, from its support for Israel, the politics of oil in the Gulf to the occupation of Iraq and beyond. We will examine the impact this presence has had over the lives of millions in the region and beyond. This course will also focus on state violence: the authoritarian state (especially Syria and Iraq), and the ongoing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. Significantly, I will highlight the social and political struggles of folks and consider the dynamics of popular uprisings, revolutions and rebellions, both failed and successful ones. Course Evaluation 4 Reading quizzes (Blackboard) (5% each) = 20% Map quiz (in class) 5%
This is a first-year seminar designed as a gateway for incoming students. The course centers coll... more This is a first-year seminar designed as a gateway for incoming students. The course centers college success elements over faculty-driven content.
What makes people leave their homes and embark on a journey, sometimes even dangerous ones, to a ... more What makes people leave their homes and embark on a journey, sometimes even dangerous ones, to a new place? What kind of paths do they take? And once they arrive at their destination, how do they adapt to a new place? In this course, we will focus on the often-marginalized experiences of migrants. Through literary texts, memoirs and films, this seminar will highlight places of origins, winding roads and high seas-the myriad paths in which people traversed, sometimes against their will, always with dread and uncertainty, en route to new homes. We will also examine the ways in which migrants forge new homes, adapt to strange cultures, and are accepted (or not) by host societies. We will especially pay attention to the roles that gender, race and class play in human mobility and the creation of new migrant communities.
Fall 2020 - Remote teaching syllabus
Syllabus revision for online pandemic teaching.
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Papers by Noa Shandlinger
The article, based on two years of fieldwork, examines the meaning of displacement for Palestinian citizens of Israel who live in Jaffa. Specifically, it focuses on one key site, the Clock Tower Square, historically a hub of Palestinian urban economy. The discussion follows a group of local Palestinian activists who consciously chose the square to stage protests, thus reclaiming Arab Jaffa's material heritage and directly challenging recent histories of spatial expropriation by the Israeli state, the Tel Aviv municipality, and real estate developers. The analysis below also proposes a multiscalar understanding of these protests as a reclamation of Jaffa's Arab heritage as well as an act of remapping the nation and its colonized homeland. In this sense, the Clock Tower Square activists produce “wishful landscapes” that work to undermine the colonizer's project of normalizing occupation.
Conferences by Noa Shandlinger
How would an anthropology of hope look like in region too often studied within tropes like 'violence' and 'terror'? Hope, as a structure of feeling and a forward-looking cluster of promise, has a checkered history and genealogy in the Middle East. In colonial regimes, hope may assume the form of accommodation, opportunism and a wishful thinking to reap the benefits of collaboration with foreign powers. This was the scope of action of many Levantine minorities (Greek, Turkish, Italian, Jewish) as well as indigenous elites under French and British colonial rule from the mashriq to the maghreb (notably the Maronites in Lebanon and urban Jewish elites in Algiers). Anti-colonial struggle and Third Worldism framed hope within the national liberation movements. From Al-Wafd Party in Egypt to Nasserism and pan-Arabism, hope was predicated on political mass mobilization. From the the 1960s the PLO came to symbolize the global struggle for decolonization advancing notions such as the armed struggle (kifah musallah) and steadfastenss (Sumud). In these movements hope was framed within a series of strategies and tactics of active and passive resistance. Throughout the region universalist ideologies such as Marxism and Islamism offered alternative programs for dissolving structures of power. The postcolonial condition continues to challenge notions of resistance and hope for change as national liberation movements failed to deliver on their promise while in Palestine the colonial occupation still endures. The 2011 Arab Uprisings were yet another movement of a hopeful trans-regional mobilization which tragically shattered hopes for a better future. While the politics of hope is inevitably rooted in collective imaginaries, ethnographers cannot overlook personal agency and the ways in which life histories articulate tensions with forms of mobilization. In addition, hope is often very much about the ways in which people choose to remember the past as it is about fantasizing futurity. This panel invites papers from a variety of disciplinary approaches to address hope in theory and practice as it multiply manifests all over the MENA.
Organizers: Noa Shaindlinger (University of Toronto Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations) [email protected] and Daniel Monterescu (Central European University, Sociology and Social Anthropology) [email protected]
Please send your abstracts by February 8. We envisage a panel at the AAA and a separate panel at MESA
Syllabi by Noa Shandlinger
The article, based on two years of fieldwork, examines the meaning of displacement for Palestinian citizens of Israel who live in Jaffa. Specifically, it focuses on one key site, the Clock Tower Square, historically a hub of Palestinian urban economy. The discussion follows a group of local Palestinian activists who consciously chose the square to stage protests, thus reclaiming Arab Jaffa's material heritage and directly challenging recent histories of spatial expropriation by the Israeli state, the Tel Aviv municipality, and real estate developers. The analysis below also proposes a multiscalar understanding of these protests as a reclamation of Jaffa's Arab heritage as well as an act of remapping the nation and its colonized homeland. In this sense, the Clock Tower Square activists produce “wishful landscapes” that work to undermine the colonizer's project of normalizing occupation.
How would an anthropology of hope look like in region too often studied within tropes like 'violence' and 'terror'? Hope, as a structure of feeling and a forward-looking cluster of promise, has a checkered history and genealogy in the Middle East. In colonial regimes, hope may assume the form of accommodation, opportunism and a wishful thinking to reap the benefits of collaboration with foreign powers. This was the scope of action of many Levantine minorities (Greek, Turkish, Italian, Jewish) as well as indigenous elites under French and British colonial rule from the mashriq to the maghreb (notably the Maronites in Lebanon and urban Jewish elites in Algiers). Anti-colonial struggle and Third Worldism framed hope within the national liberation movements. From Al-Wafd Party in Egypt to Nasserism and pan-Arabism, hope was predicated on political mass mobilization. From the the 1960s the PLO came to symbolize the global struggle for decolonization advancing notions such as the armed struggle (kifah musallah) and steadfastenss (Sumud). In these movements hope was framed within a series of strategies and tactics of active and passive resistance. Throughout the region universalist ideologies such as Marxism and Islamism offered alternative programs for dissolving structures of power. The postcolonial condition continues to challenge notions of resistance and hope for change as national liberation movements failed to deliver on their promise while in Palestine the colonial occupation still endures. The 2011 Arab Uprisings were yet another movement of a hopeful trans-regional mobilization which tragically shattered hopes for a better future. While the politics of hope is inevitably rooted in collective imaginaries, ethnographers cannot overlook personal agency and the ways in which life histories articulate tensions with forms of mobilization. In addition, hope is often very much about the ways in which people choose to remember the past as it is about fantasizing futurity. This panel invites papers from a variety of disciplinary approaches to address hope in theory and practice as it multiply manifests all over the MENA.
Organizers: Noa Shaindlinger (University of Toronto Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations) [email protected] and Daniel Monterescu (Central European University, Sociology and Social Anthropology) [email protected]
Please send your abstracts by February 8. We envisage a panel at the AAA and a separate panel at MESA