Current Analysis

An Anthem from the Iranian Protests

On September 27, 2022, Iranian musician Shervin Hajipour posted a song to his instagram compiled of tweets from Iranians detailing the reasons they are protesting. The song quickly went viral across social media. Within days of the video’s release, Shervin Hajipour had been arrested, and the origina

Zuzanna Olszewska • 3 min read

MER Article

Culture and Politics, Culture as Politics

Although MERIP is best known for political economy critiques of systems of resource extraction, imperialism and authoritarianism, artwork, creative texts and cultural reviews have never been merely supplemental to its project. Elevating cultural expression and aesthetic performance from the Middle East and North Africa can be an act of political

Ted Swedenburg, Paul Silverstein • 7 min read

Current Analysis

Mourning the Loss of the Berber Troubadour Idir

For nearly 50 years, Idir’s music has resonated deeply with his Kabyle listeners: His lyrics not only recall the power of their ancestral traditions, they also serve as a reminder that Kabyle resilience transcends the ages. His music and his novel musicality completely revolutionized Kabyle song, br

Nabil Boudraa • 7 min read

MER Article

Tolan, Children of the Stone

Sandy Tolan, Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land (New York: Bloomsbury, 2015). Two stories, two dreams: one realized, the other dashed. A boy born to a fragmented, impoverished refugee family living under harsh military rule is mesmerized by the sound of a violin and vows not

Dan Connell • 8 min read

Current Analysis

Palestine, Adrift at the Met

Opera is dying in New York. Or at least it was until last month.

Bayann Hamid • 7 min read

Current Analysis

Youth of the Gulf, Youth of Palestine

I recently came across two accounts of Arab youth that fly in the face of conventional wisdom. One is Kristin Diwan’s issue brief on youth activism [http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/images/publications/Breaking_Taboos.pdf] in the Arab Gulf states for the Atlantic Council, and the other is a documentar

Ted Swedenburg • 6 min read

MER Article

Egypt's Music of Protest

The culture of protest associated with the Egyptian uprising has attracted a huge amount of media coverage -- much of it, unfortunately, partial and superficial. Partial, in that it privileges hip-hop to the virtual exclusion of every other kind of nationalist and protest music sung by musicians and

Ted Swedenburg • 13 min read

MER Article

Syria's Radical Dabka

A clip circulating on YouTube begins with two sets of feet stepping on a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, defaced with a blood-red X and tossed on the ground. It soon becomes apparent that “dirty Asad” lies inside a ring of protesters, who circle the head shot stomping rhythmically -- on

Shayna Silverstein • 12 min read

MER Article

Protest Song Marocaine

A familiar song accompanied the massive protests that began on February 20, 2011 in Morocco. The song, “Fine Ghadi Biya Khouya” (Where Are You Taking Me, Brother?), was first released in 1973 by Nass el Ghiwane, the venerable folk-pop group that continues to dominate Moroccan popular music -- its a

John Schaefer • 18 min read

MER Article

Festivalizing Dissent in Morocco

The website of Morocco’s National Tourist Office, a government organization, advertises the North African country as a land of cultural festivals and moussems (traditional fairs honoring a saint). According to the Ministry of Information, about 150 such festivals take place each year. The Ministry o

Aomar Boum • 10 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

Current Analysis

Traditions of Tahrir

BBC Radio 4 broadcast a quite interesting program [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019fxjf] last Wednesday (as of now, it is still available for listening), in the run-up to the first anniversary of the Egyptian uprising that toppled Mubarak. It featured Reem Kelani [http://reemkelani.com/index.asp

Ted Swedenburg • 3 min read