Contemporary Issues of Capitalism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Most of the academic debate on capitalism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has concentrated on Rentier State Theory and state-centric crony capitalism, neglecting to position the region within the broader motions of global capitalism. Consequently, this situation has led to the exclusion of geopolitical tensions from analyses of capitalist development in the region, and environmental issues have often been attributed to natural factors or local mismanagement. In addition, gig work has primarily been analysed within the framework of employment opportunities and digital development, thus overlooking the dynamics of labour exploitation, migration issues, and feminist forms of resistance and empowerment. Finally, in rare instances of focusing on class formation, the issue has been treated as a standalone process, detached from considerations of race, ethnicity, and gender.

This collaborative project with Stella Morgana aims to reintegrate the MENA into the dynamics of global capitalism while remaining sensitive to regional and local shaping factors. Grounded in this conceptual and methodological approach, it explores four themes:

  1. Intersections of class, gender, and race/ethnicity within capitalist development in the region

  2. Regional geopolitical tensions and their relationship with capitalism

  3. Labour, surveillance, and the gig economy versus capitalism

  4. Environmental issues, climate change, and capitalist interventions.

The project is set to be featured as a special issue in the Middle East Critique journal, comprising approximately 10 original articles.

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Mode of Production and the Historiography of Capitalism: Gender, Race and Eurocentrism