Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Jessica Winegar

Jessica Winegar is assistant professor of anthropology at Northwestern University and an editor of this magazine.

The AnthroBoycott Collective and Organizing Against Apartheid—An Interview with Daniel Segal and Jessica Winegar — Protesters supporting the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign. Columbus, Ohio, June 2021. Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Current Analysis

The AnthroBoycott Collective and Organizing Against Apartheid—An Interview with Daniel Segal and Jessica Winegar

What we can learn from the American Anthropological Association's historic resolution.

Lori Allen, Jessica Winegar, Daniel Segal • 10 min read

MER Article

“I Still Have a Realistic Expectation of Better Prospects for Egypt’s Future”

Wael Eskandar is a Cairo-based independent journalist who blogs at Notes from the Underground. He has written for Ahram Online, al-Monitor, Daily News Egypt, Counterpunch and Jadaliyya, among other outlets. He has also contributed to Egypt’s Kazeboon campaign and other projects that focus on youth a

Jessica Winegar • 7 min read

MER Article

The Moral Panic Over Chinese in Egypt

On a brisk autumn evening in 2010, male coffee shop patrons in the upscale Cairo neighborhood of Zamalek were treated to the sight of young Chinese women in miniskirts circulating to hand out brochures for a new massage parlor. It was an unusual sight indeed for Egyptian public space -- both the wom

Jessica Winegar • 8 min read

MER Article

The Writing on the Walls of Egypt

Whoever has something to say in Egypt these days can write it on a wall. Ahmad loves Rasha; the revolution continues; build unity between Christians and Muslims; make Egypt an Islamic state. Private garage, no parking; we are all Egyptians; don’t forget the martyrs of the revolution; apply for a job

Samuli Schielke, Jessica Winegar • 5 min read

MER Article

Culture, State and Revolution

The Arab uprisings have brought major challenges, as well as unprecedented opportunities, to the culture industries. According to a flurry of celebratory news articles from the spring of 2011 onward, protest art is proliferating in the region, from graffiti in Egypt to hip-hop in Morocco to massive

Sonali Pahwa, Jessica Winegar • 15 min read

MER Article

The September 11 Effect on Anthropology

Conventional wisdom among scholars of the Middle East is that the September 11, 2001 attacks left behind a threatening professional environment. Graduate students and faculty alike speak of hostile infiltrators in their classrooms, inevitably bitter tenure battles and the self-censorship that both c

Lara Deeb, Jessica Winegar • 5 min read

MER Article

Taking Out the Trash

On February 12, 2011, thousands of Egyptians flooded Tahrir Square to celebrate the previous night’s ouster of Husni Mubarak, their country’s dictator of 30 years. It was an unusually bright and clear-skied Cairo Saturday, full of promise of a new Egypt. From atop the October 6 bridge that spans the

Jessica Winegar • 8 min read