Inside The Arab World

Comprehensive survey of the Arab world.

Over recent decades we have witnessed the globalization of research. However, this has yet to translate into a worldwide scientific network, across which competencies and resources can flow freely. Arab countries have strived to join this globalized world and become a ‘knowledge economy,’ yet little time has been invested in the region’s fragmented scientific institutions; institutions that should provide opportunities for individuals to step out on the global stage. Knowledge Production in the Arab World investigates research practices in the Arab world, using multiple case studies from the region with particular focus on Lebanon and Jordan. It depicts the Janus-like face of Arab research, poised between the negative and the positive and faced with two potentially opposing strands; local relevance alongside its internationalization. The book critically assesses the role and dynamics of research and poses questions that are crucial to further our understanding of the very particular case of knowledge production in the Arab region. The book explores research’s relevance and whom it serves, as well as the methodological flaws behind academic rankings and the meaning and application of key concepts such as knowledge society/economy. Providing a detailed and comprehensive examination of knowledge production in the Arab world, this book is of interest to students, scholars and policy makers working on the issues of research practices and status of science in contemporary developing countries.

Despite notable socio-economic development in the Arab region, a deficit in democracy and political rights has continued to prevail. This book examines the major reasons underlying the persistence of this democracy deficit over the past decades, drawing on case studies from across the Arab world to explore economic development, political institutions and social factors, and the impact of oil wealth and regional wars.

FULL REVISED AND EXPANDED SECOND EDITION This book is a practical map that will help you understand the people and demystify the culture of the Arab world - the beliefs, values and social structures that determine how business is conducted and how things are done. This is not a sterile list of dos and don'ts. This book will help you develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the motivators of behaviour. It will also widen your perspective and arm you with the knowledge that will enable you to float with ease and confidence from one situation to the other.

News Media in the Arab World: A Study of 10 Arab and Muslim Countries is based on ongoing research at the Department of Media and Communication, University of Leicester, and has investigated the rapidly changing nature of the news media in Arab countries. They have investigated the role of newspapers and television in news provision and the impact of new media developments, most especially the emergence of the internet as a platform for news distribution and of international satellite television channels such as Al Jazeera. Examining the constantly developing nature of news, the collection contains separately authored chapters produced by the researchers responsible for each original analysis, covering Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Based on original primary and secondary research, this will be the first empirical-based collection to blend perspectives from both the Western and Arab nations.

Zahlan's detailed study examines recent and current performance of Arab countries and their organizations in scientific research in relation to their socio-economic development. It shows that the Arab countries are severely handicapped by a political economy dominated by technological dependence, corruption, and limited research collaboration.

...a comprehensive portrait of slavery in the Islamic world from earliest times until today...D>--Arab Book World

Since the turn of the twentieth century the dramatic rise of mass media has profoundly transformed music practices in the Arab world. Music has adapted to successive forms of media disseminationDLfrom phonograph cylinders to MP3sDLeach subjected to the political and economic forces of its particular era and region. Carried by mass media, the broader culture of Arab music has been thoroughly transformed as well. Simultaneously, mass mediated music has become a powerful social force. While parallel processes have unfolded worldwide, their implications in the Arabic-speaking world have thus far received little scholarly attention. This provocative volume features sixteen new essays examining these issues, especially televised music and the controversial new genre of the music video. Perceptive voicesDLboth emerging and establishedDLrepresent a wide variety of academic disciplines. Incisive essays by Egyptian critics display the textures of public Arabic discourse to an English readership. Authors address the key issues of contemporary Arab societyDLgender and sexuality, Islam, class, economy, power, and nationDLas refracted through the culture of mediated music. Interconnected by a web of recurrent concepts, this collection transcends music to become an important resource for the study of contemporary Arab society and culture. Contributors: Wael Abdel Fattah, Yasser Abdel-Latif, Moataz Abdel Aziz, Tamim Al-Barghouti, Mounir Al Wassimi, Walter Armbrust, Elisabeth Cestor, Hani Darwish, Walid El Khachab, Abdel-Wahab Elmessiri, James Grippo, Patricia Kubala, Katherine Meizel, Zein Nassar, Ibrahim Saleh, Laith Ulaby.