Thinking in Four Dimensions: New Directions in Spatial Analysis of the Middle East

El-Kazaz, Sarah

Abstract

The study of the Middle East is experiencing an explosion in the dimensions through which scholars study space. The five new books reviewed in this essay stand out for pushing the boundaries of how we conceptualize the production of space and mobilize it as a methodological intervention. Through remarkably sensitive ethnography, creative use of sources, and an array of vibrant theoretical and methodological tools, they expand upon an earlier pioneering literature that centered spatial analysis in the study of the Middle East. In this essay, I focus on three dimensions they have opened up: analyzing space in time; drawing connectivities across spaces; and reframing the agency of spatial tactics and the nonhuman.

Citation

El-Kazaz, S. (2017). Thinking in Four Dimensions: New Directions in Spatial Analysis of the Middle East. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 49(3), 535-545. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743817000423

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 26, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jul 26, 2017
• Publication Date: Jul 26, 2017
• Deposit Date: Sep 22, 2020
• Journal: International Journal of Middle East Studies
• Print ISSN: 0020-7438
• Electronic ISSN: 1471-6380
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 535-545
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743817000423
• Related Public URLs: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-middle-east-studies/article/thinking-in-four-dimensions-new-directions-in-spatial-analysis-of-the-middle-east/7087FC238CD7275ED5BABFDD6B51A7AB
• Additional Information: Copyright Statement : COPYRIGHT: © Cambridge University Press 2017; Additional Information : This is a review essay analysing five recent works in the field, where the author makes original insights about the state of the field of spatial analysis in the Middle East.