Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Figures vii
4. Introduction 1
5. SECTION 1: RESEARCHING POLITICAL DYNAMICS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
6. 1. The Past is Here: Reflections on modern Middle Eastern Historiography 11
7. 2. Doing Research in Conflict and Post-conflict Contexts 26
8. 3. Researching (and Deconstructing) Sectarianism in Lebanon and Beyond 39
9. 4. Researching Livelihoods for Syrian Refugees in Protectionist Labour Markets: The Cases of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey 53
10. SECTION 2:IDENTITY AND POSITIONALITY IN RESEARCH
11. 5. Talking to Young People about Being a National: Fieldwork Reflections from Dubai 73
12. 6. ‘Here be Dragons’: Navigating the Problems of Researching ‘Terrorism’ and Critical Terrorism Studies 88
13. 7. Positionality and Access: Doing Surveys and Empirical Research in the Middle East 115
14. SECTION 3: CONDUCTING ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
15. 8. Women, Conflict and the Everyday: Feminist Ethnographies in Palestine and Kurdistan 131
16. 9. From the Ethical to the Practical: Cases of Working with Interpreters in Middle East Studies 149
17. 10. Conducting Research in Arabic: Challenges and New Perspectives 161
18. SECTION 4: RESEARCH THROUGH TEXT, SYMBOLS AND TECHNOLOGY
19. 11. Problems of Method: Applying ‘Western Literary Theory’ to Arabic Texts 181
20. 12. YouTube and Ethnography in the Middle East: Creative Access in Difficult Places 195
21. 13. Reading the Signs: Towards a Semiotic Approach in Islamic Studies 211
22. Notes on Contributors 229
23. Index 235