MERIP updates

Call for Pitches—Visual Art & Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa

MERIP is seeking pitches for our Summer 2026 issue exploring visual art and cultural production in the Middle East and North Africa. We invite submissions that center artistic practices and cultural histories while attending to the political, social and material conditions in which art is made and experienced. We welcome

The Editors • 1 min read

MERIP updates

NEW: Governing Crisis–Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran

New analysis on the protests from Ida Nikou

Ida Nikou • 2 min read

Iran

Governing Crisis—Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran

Recent protests triggered by currency collapse and price shocks expose how sanctions have reconfigured state power, enabling austerity and insider accumulation rather than relief.

Ida Nikou • 9 min read

Palestine

Palestine 36 and the Hard Facts of History

Annemarie Jacir’s epic portrayal of the revolt that never ended.

Lori Allen • 13 min read

MERIP updates

NEW: Dirty Work—The Hidden Machinery and Human Toll of Europe’s Broken Recycling Trade

By Adnan Khan

Adnan Khan • 5 min read

Migrant Workers

Dirty Work—The Hidden Machinery and Human Toll of Europe’s Broken Recycling Trade

As Europe sends increasing amounts of illegal waste to Turkey, activists and investigators are revealing how the country’s state-backed recycling boom depends on fraud, off-the-books subcontracting and a rising death toll of migrant laborers.

Adnan Khan • 15 min read