Urban Violence in the Middle East: Changing Cityscapes in the Transition from Empire to Nation State - Paperback

by Ulrike Freitag (Editor), Nelida Fuccaro (Editor), Claudia Ghrawi (Editor)

Covering a period from the late eighteenth century to today, this volume explores the phenomenon of urban violence in order to unveil general developments and historical specificities in a variety of Middle Eastern contexts. By situating incidents in particular processes and conflicts, the case studies seek to counter notions of a violent Middle East in order to foster a new understanding of violence beyond that of a meaningless and destructive social and political act. Contributions explore processes sparked by the transition from empires -- Ottoman and Qajar, but also European -- to the formation of nation states, and the resulting changes in cityscapes throughout the region.

Author Biography

Nora Lafi is researcher at Zentrum Moderner Orient and is a historian of the Ottoman Empire with a focus on Urban Studies. She is coeditor of The City in the Ottoman Empire: Migration and the Making of Urban Modernity (Routledge, 2010).