Building from Scrap, Building Through Crisis

On Umut Kuruüzüm’s materialist ethnography of war and reconstruction, 'Building from Scrap: War, Recycling, and Labor in Iraqi Kurdistan.'

Mujge Küçükkeleş • 11 min read

Repair Amid Ongoing Ruination—Rebuilding Dahiyeh Once More

Standing beside a destroyed building in Dahiyeh in September 2025, a fruit seller said to me, “I want to bring Naim Qassem [Hizballah’s new secretary general] here. I want to show him the damage. Our people need to do better.” He knew that, like him, I was Shia, and

Iman Ali • 11 min read

The Struggle for the City—Urban Recovery and Dispossession in Mosul and Damascus

A walk through the old city of Mosul, Iraq, reveals an urban landscape still scarred by the violence of war and transfigured by ongoing reconstruction. Rubble-lined narrow streets give way to half-rebuilt homes and scaffolded storefronts, as merchants return and daily life resumes amid the heavy hum of generators and

Craig Larkin • 14 min read

Sudan

Burri Under Siege—How War Remade Everyday Life in a Sudanese Neighborhood

In March 2025, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) retook key areas of eastern, central and southern Khartoum. Their advance ended the Rapid Support Force’s (RSF) two-year siege of Burri—a neighborhood of eight residential areas in central Khartoum along the Blue Nile River. As part of the metropolitan core

Niema Alhessen • 15 min read

Reconstruction

Rebuilding Gaza from the Ground Up

An Interview with Minerva Fadel of Architects for Gaza

Minerva Fadel, Hannah Sender • 12 min read

MER Article

Rebuilding Douma—Syria's Reconstruction from Below

Before the war, Douma was a city on the rise. A district seat in the Governorate of the Damascus Countryside (Muhafizat Rif Dimashq) and a market town, it served as a bridge, of sorts, between the agricultural areas of Ghouta and Damascus and was famous for its grape production. In

Najib Hourani, Safa Rawashdeh • 13 min read