Nahöstlich

This book provides an overview of Palestinian women organizations and their advocacy for emancipation and equality in Israel, with a particular focus on the different strategies that allow them to navigate challenging restrictions without being shut down by state apparatuses or by societal institutions and localities.

This book explores the Islamic tradition and Muslim contexts for educational administration and leadership. It addresses the teaching of educational administration and leadership from an Islamic perspective by raising issues of globalised educational administration and leadership teaching as it applies in Muslim contexts that vary by culture and social institutions. The book proposes alternative approaches and demonstrates that Islamic traditions have a strong foundation upon which to build in the field and are compatible with many aspects of Western theory and practices, provided that sufficient modifications and adaptations are made.The book focuses on postgraduate curricula and pedagogy, drawing on a range of theoretical foundations and approaches that are culturally and jurisdictionally appropriate in a number of Muslim countries. As such, it contributes to an emerging specialisation in international and comparative educational administration and leadership that is oriented towards a broader and more diverse set of perspectives, particularly from the non-Western world.

This book examines the sociolinguistics of some of Iran's languages at home and in the diaspora. The first part of the book examines the politics of minority languages and the presence of hegemonic discourses which favour Persian (Farsi) in Iran, exploring issues such as language maintenance and shift, linguistic ideologies and practices among Azerbaijani and Kurdish-speaking communities. The authors then go on to examine Iranians' linguistic ideologies, practices and (trans)national identity construction in the diaspora, investigating both the challenges of maintaining a home language and the strategies and linguistic repertoires employed when constructing a diasporic identity away from home. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of minority languages and communities, diaspora and migration studies, and language policy and planning.

The decades-long resilience of Middle Eastern regimes meant that few anticipated the 2011 Arab Spring. But from the seemingly rapid leadership turnovers in Tunisia and Egypt to the protracted stalemates in Yemen and Syria, there remains a common outcome: ongoing control of the ruling regimes. While some analysts and media outlets rush to look for democratic breakthroughs, autocratic continuity-not wide-ranging political change-remains the hallmark of the region's upheaval. Contrasting Egypt and Syria, Joshua Stacher examines how executive power is structured in each country to show how these preexisting power configurations shaped the uprisings and, in turn, the outcomes. Presidential power in Egypt was centralized. Even as Mubarak was forced to relinquish the presidency, military generals from the regime were charged with leading the transition. The course of the Syrian uprising reveals a key difference: the decentralized character of Syrian politics. Only time will tell if Asad will survive in office, but for now, the regime continues to unify around him. While debates about election timetables, new laws, and the constitution have come about in Egypt, bloody street confrontations continue to define Syrian politics-the differences in authoritarian rule could not be more stark. Political structures, elite alliances, state institutions, and governing practices are seldom swept away entirely-even following successful revolutions-so it is vital to examine the various contexts for regime survival. Elections, protests, and political struggles will continue to define the region in the upcoming years. Examining the lead-up to the Egyptian and Syrian uprisings helps us unlock the complexity behind the protests and transitions. Without this understanding, we lack a roadmap to make sense of the Middle East's most important political moment in decades.

Shakir tells the long neglected story of the bint arab-the Arab woman-in the United States. Drawing on primary sources such as club minutes, census records, and dozens of interviews, she explores the experience of late 19th- and early 20th-century immigrants-mostly Christian peasants from Lebanon and Syria-and their American-born daughters. Later, she moves on to the well-assimilated granddaughters (many of whom have reidentified with the Arab community and begun to fight its political battles). The work concludes with those women-most of them Muslim-who have emigrated over the last quarter century from many Arab countries, particularly Palestinians.<BR><BR>While attempting to correct stereotypes that picture Arab women as passive, mindless, and downtrodden, Shakir gives voice to women caught in a tug of war, usually waged within the family, between traditional values and the social and sexual liberties permitted women in the West. Complicating that battle has been the American suspicion of Arab peoples, which has sometimes pushed women-as guardians of a culture under attack-to resist the blandishments of American society. However, the sense of embattlement has sometimes had the opposite outcome, legitimizing women's activities in the public and political realm. Leavened with personal reminiscences by the author, this book introduces a gallery of spirited women, speaking candidly about their differing backgrounds, values, and aspirations. Essential for all scholars and students of America's social and religious diversity.