| Co-editors |
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|---|---|
| Categories | |
| Circulation | 70,000 weekly[1] |
| Publisher | Arab Studies Institute (ASI) |
| Founded | 2010 |
| First issue | September 21, 2010; 15 years ago (2010-09-21) |
| Country | Global |
| Language |
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| Website | www |
Jadaliyya (Arabic:جدلية,lit. 'Dialectic') is an independentezine founded in 2010 by the Arab Studies Institute (ASI) to cover theArab World and the broaderMiddle East. It publishes articles in Arabic, French, English and Turkish, and is run primarily on a volunteer basis by an editorial team, and an expanding pool of contributors that includes academics, journalists, activists and artists.[2]
Jadaliyya (جدلية) is derived from theArabic:جدل,romanized: jadal,lit. 'controversy', meaning "dialectic."[3]
Jadaliyya's co-editors are unpaid volunteers and the magazine does not accept advertising. While most ofJadaliyya is either self-funded or funded bybarter for "big projects," it has received grants from theOpen Society Institute.[1][4] According toPortal 9: "TheArab uprisings, which gained momentum only a few months afterJadaliyya was established, firmly catapulted it to the forefront of critical debates and analysis of the Arab world."[1]
George Mason University professor Bassam Haddad, its founding editor, said thatJadaliyya aspires to "offer a scholarly, left-of-center ‘counter discourse’ to the mainstream conversation about the Arab world." It is described both by its readers and its contributors as progressive, pro-Palestinian, and post-Orientialist. Articles are often skeptical of American foreign policy and focused on the impact of colonial and postcolonial power relations.Georgetown University professor and contributorElliot Colla noted, "I couldn't say there's a dogma; in fact there's a lot of argument and debate [....] but there is a political project." Another editor describedJadaliyya as "friends publishing friends on issues they agree upon."[4]
Jadaliyya is one in a series of knowledge production projects under the rubric of ASI. These include an academic research journal (est. 1992), a documentary film collective (2003), and a publishing house (2012).[5] According to Haddad (a founder of ASI)[6]Jadaliyya originated in 2002 with the intent to create "a publication that would have a wider circulation" than the scholarly, peer-reviewedArab Studies Journal. Haddad and his colleagueSinan Antoon stated that "good knowledge was being hoarded in journals that are largely inaccessible to the general public" and wanted "to reach beyond the academic community."[1] The idea was shelved, however, after theIraq War began in 2003 and their team focused instead on producing three documentary films in a period of six years (About Baghdad,What is Said About Arabs and Terrorism, andThe Other Threat).
In 2009, influenced by new developments insocial media, Haddad revisited the project with Antoon, Sherene Seikaly, Nadya Sbaiti,Noura Erakat, and Maya Mikdashi. They completed a private test launch ofJadaliyya during the summer of 2010[1] and officially launched the ezine on September 21, 2010.[7] The editorial team expanded and to 15 co-editors.
Jadaliyya was founded on "an anti-corporate and solidarity-based model of work. Whenever possible, our mode of operation is largely non-hierarchical, though not without leadership."[1] The goal of the co-editors was to make an interactive and "user-friendly" website with open language (English, Arabic, and French) and submission length. The editors utilized a number of social media formats includingFacebook,Twitter,Tumblr,tablet and mobile phone apps, andReadspeaker.[1] According to Haddad: "nearly every submission goes through a rigorous review process that includes at least two reviews before going to the copy editor."[1]
Jadaliyya has been influential in both education and the media. Ursula Lindsey inThe Chronicle of Higher Education noted thatJadaliyya has "become a reference for many professors in the field. It reaches beyond academia as well. Updated daily, the site boasts about half a million unique visitors a month, and its articles are widely shared on social media [....] Jadaliyya’s reception has been largely positive among scholars of the Middle East."[4]
Jadaliyya has quickly become the go-to place for information and analysis of what isgoing on in Egypt and the region. Moreover,Jadaliyya is the place where writing of a kind that we associate with the best ofanthropology--in the moment, grounded in theory, capturing historical transformation through engagement in events as they unfold--has been published. It seems to provide solutions to many problems we have been engaged with in anthropology -- the production of knowledge in and about the region, particularly in this time of the massive uprisings …Jadaliyya has been the place where some of the best "ethnographic" writing about the region in this time of incredible transformation and change is to be found.[8]
— Assistant Professor of Anthropology Julia Elyachar
Media outlets such asThe Atlantic,[9]TheChristian Science Monitor,[10]The Chronicle of Higher Education,[11]The Guardian,[12][13][14]Inter Press Service,[15]La Stampa,[16]London Review of Books,[17]The New York Times,[18][19][20][21][22]NPR,[23] andPBS[24][25] referencedJadaliyya when discussing events related to theArab Uprisings, as well as the Middle East more generally.The Guardian stated that "the Arab [Studies] Institute’sJadaliyya website is an invaluable resource",[13] whileAl-masry Al-youm (English Edition) suggested that it "quickly became a port of call for many wanting to understand thetumultuous events unfolding across the region" by offering "more nuanced, in-depth coverage than most, but without the delays and exclusivity of academic journals."[3] In addition,Portal 9 referred toJadaliyya as "an essential resource for many in and outside the Arab world"[1] whileToday's Zaman called it "one of the leading English language Arab websites."[26]
Various international and regional media outlets including theAgence France-Presse (AFP),[27]Al Jazeera English,[28][29]BBC,[30]China Central Television,[31]China Radio International,[32]CNN,[33]Democracy Now,[34]Deutsche Welle,[35]El Mundo,[36]The Guardian,[37]Le Figaro,[38]MSNBC,[39]ThePBS NewsHour,[40]Russia Today,[41]The Wall Street Journal,[42] andThe Washington Post[43] have featured interviews withJadaliyya co-editors. In addition, media outlets such asThe Guardian[44] andCourrier International[45] have republishedJadaliyya articles[46][47][48][49][50][51]
The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old Order?, was edited Haddad, Bsheer, and Abu-Rish.[52][53][54] Composed of twenty essays originally published inJadaliyya,[55] the text (according to the editors) sheds "light on the historical background and initial impact of the mass uprisings which have shaken the Arab world since December 2010 [....] while the book focuses on those states that have been most affected by the uprisings it also covers the impact on Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq."[52]
Timothy Mitchell, professor of Middle Eastern Studies atColumbia University, observed that "as the work of scholars and activists with a rich knowledge of the region's histories and political aspirations, the essays offer lasting insights into the forces shaping a new moment in world history."[52]Laleh Khalili, Senior Lecturer in Middle East Politics, SOAS,University of London suggested thatThe Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old Order? is "a very rare combination - scholarly but also accessible for a broad public." She also argues that it will be "a much-treasured volume for undergraduate students, and its sophistication will also benefit postgraduates and academics."[52]
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