An afternoon on the edge of Dîṭuwâḥ Lagoon on the northwestern shore of the Indian Ocean island o... more An afternoon on the edge of Dîṭuwâḥ Lagoon on the northwestern shore of the Indian Ocean island of Soqotra is a contemplative affair for the increasing number of tourists attracted by the Yemeni island's allure as the "Galapagos of the Indian Ocean". Part of the "Socotran Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage" site, the Lagoon is also declared a Wetland of International Importance. 1 More importantly for its development, it is easily accessible by a tarmac road from the main town of Ḥâdîbû, and it offers basic camping facilities to tourists shying away from the more remote campsites which do not offer any sanitary installations and are sometimes only reachable by foot. Thus, it is one of the most popular and leisurely destinations of the island, which is the largest and most populous part of the archipelago which is located 350 km south of Yemen, while its westernmost tip (the island of Abdel Kuri) is only 110 km east of Cape Guardafui in Somalia.
Rethinking the Anthropology of Islam Dynamics of Change in Muslim Societies. In Honour of Roman Loimeier, 2024
By discussing the origins of the Maṭbaʿa Salafiyya in Cairo, established by Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭ... more By discussing the origins of the Maṭbaʿa Salafiyya in Cairo, established by Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb and ʿAb dal-Fattāḥ Qatlān in 1919, this article explores the history of early 20th century Arabic printing and the intellectual networks associated with it.
The object of this programme is to bring together research on cosmopolitanism in order to compare... more The object of this programme is to bring together research on cosmopolitanism in order to compare cities of different regions bordering on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, from various disciplinary perspectives, from history to ...
Cities the world over and in particular developing countries suffer from uneven development and i... more Cities the world over and in particular developing countries suffer from uneven development and inequality. This is often coupled with the view that these inequalities constitute unfortunate anomalies. In contrast, this edited volume draws out the ways in which the city has not been able to exist without its margins, both materially, ideationally, and socially. In this book the margins are, first, the mirrors of the city and, second, a fundamental route through which various centers can legitimate and sustain their power. Contemporary case studies are compared to a number of those from history with the accent on Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and engage with the underlying theoretical questions of what is the urban margin and what is marginality in urban society and spaces
This seminar was created in 2006 at ZMO (Zentrum Moderner Orient) as part of our »Compared Cities... more This seminar was created in 2006 at ZMO (Zentrum Moderner Orient) as part of our »Compared Cities« initiative, within the framework of the EUME (Europe in the Middle-East / the Middle-East in Europe) programme at Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin. The intent was to build a new space of discussion on present stakes in Ottoman urban history open to both the international fellows of our programme, international guests, and the Berlin public specialized not only in Ottoman but also in transnational and conceptual history. Transnational history had also been a major focus at ZMO for several years, an experience on which we were able to capitalize. From the beginning it was clear to us that a transnational and comparative perspective had to draw not only on Ottomanist erudition, but should integrate some of the major current approaches and questions in (mainstream, i. e. mostly Western) History and the Social Sciences. We felt that Ottomanist scholarship, strong as it is, at times suff ers from ...
An afternoon on the edge of Dîṭuwâḥ Lagoon on the northwestern shore of the Indian Ocean island o... more An afternoon on the edge of Dîṭuwâḥ Lagoon on the northwestern shore of the Indian Ocean island of Soqotra is a contemplative affair for the increasing number of tourists attracted by the Yemeni island's allure as the "Galapagos of the Indian Ocean". Part of the "Socotran Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage" site, the Lagoon is also declared a Wetland of International Importance. 1 More importantly for its development, it is easily accessible by a tarmac road from the main town of Ḥâdîbû, and it offers basic camping facilities to tourists shying away from the more remote campsites which do not offer any sanitary installations and are sometimes only reachable by foot. Thus, it is one of the most popular and leisurely destinations of the island, which is the largest and most populous part of the archipelago which is located 350 km south of Yemen, while its westernmost tip (the island of Abdel Kuri) is only 110 km east of Cape Guardafui in Somalia.
Rethinking the Anthropology of Islam Dynamics of Change in Muslim Societies. In Honour of Roman Loimeier, 2024
By discussing the origins of the Maṭbaʿa Salafiyya in Cairo, established by Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭ... more By discussing the origins of the Maṭbaʿa Salafiyya in Cairo, established by Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb and ʿAb dal-Fattāḥ Qatlān in 1919, this article explores the history of early 20th century Arabic printing and the intellectual networks associated with it.
The object of this programme is to bring together research on cosmopolitanism in order to compare... more The object of this programme is to bring together research on cosmopolitanism in order to compare cities of different regions bordering on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, from various disciplinary perspectives, from history to ...
Cities the world over and in particular developing countries suffer from uneven development and i... more Cities the world over and in particular developing countries suffer from uneven development and inequality. This is often coupled with the view that these inequalities constitute unfortunate anomalies. In contrast, this edited volume draws out the ways in which the city has not been able to exist without its margins, both materially, ideationally, and socially. In this book the margins are, first, the mirrors of the city and, second, a fundamental route through which various centers can legitimate and sustain their power. Contemporary case studies are compared to a number of those from history with the accent on Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and engage with the underlying theoretical questions of what is the urban margin and what is marginality in urban society and spaces
This seminar was created in 2006 at ZMO (Zentrum Moderner Orient) as part of our »Compared Cities... more This seminar was created in 2006 at ZMO (Zentrum Moderner Orient) as part of our »Compared Cities« initiative, within the framework of the EUME (Europe in the Middle-East / the Middle-East in Europe) programme at Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin. The intent was to build a new space of discussion on present stakes in Ottoman urban history open to both the international fellows of our programme, international guests, and the Berlin public specialized not only in Ottoman but also in transnational and conceptual history. Transnational history had also been a major focus at ZMO for several years, an experience on which we were able to capitalize. From the beginning it was clear to us that a transnational and comparative perspective had to draw not only on Ottomanist erudition, but should integrate some of the major current approaches and questions in (mainstream, i. e. mostly Western) History and the Social Sciences. We felt that Ottomanist scholarship, strong as it is, at times suff ers from ...
Cities the world over and in particular developing countries suffer from uneven development and i... more Cities the world over and in particular developing countries suffer from uneven development and inequality. This is often coupled with the view that these inequalities constitute unfortunate anomalies. In contrast, this edited volume draws out the ways in which the city has not been able to exist without its margins, both materially, ideationally, and socially. In this book the margins are, first, the mirrors of the city and, second, a fundamental route through which various centers can legitimate and sustain their power. Contemporary case studies are compared to a number of those from history with the accent on Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and engage with the underlying theoretical questions of what is the urban margin and what is marginality in urban society and spaces?
Spaces of Participation Dynamics of Social and Political Change in the Arab World, 2021
A rich interdisciplinary study of the relationships between space, both physical and virtual, and... more A rich interdisciplinary study of the relationships between space, both physical and virtual, and social and political participation Where do people meet, form relations of trust, and begin debating social and political issues? Where do social movements start? In this fascinating collection, scholars and activists from a wealth of disciplinary backgrounds, including sociology, anthropology, history, and political science, take a fresh look at these questions and the factors leading to political and social change in the Arab world from a spatial perspective. Based on original field work in Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, and Palestine, Spaces of Participation connects and reconnects social, cultural, and political participation with urban space. It explores timely themes such as formal and informal spaces of participation, alternative spaces of cultural production, space reclamation, and cultural activism, and the reconfiguring of space through different types of contestation. It also covers a range of spaces that include sports clubs, arts centers, and sites of protest and resistance, as well as virtual spaces such as social media platforms, in the process of examining the relationships and tensions between physical and virtual space. Spaces of Participation underlines the temporal and transformative quality of participatory spaces and how they are shaped by their respective political contexts, highlighting different forms of access, control, and contestation.
To what extent can Islam be localized in an increasingly interconnected world? The contributions ... more To what extent can Islam be localized in an increasingly interconnected world? The contributions to this volume investigate different facets of Muslim lives in the context of increasingly dense transregional connections, highlighting how the circulation of ideas about ‘Muslimness’ contributed to the shaping of specific ideas about what constitutes Islam and its role in society and politics. Infrastructural changes have prompted the intensification of scholarly and trade networks, prompted the circulation of new literary genres or shaped stereotypical images of Muslims. This, in turn, had consequences in widely differing fields such as self-representation and governance of Muslims. The contributions in this volume explore this issue in geographical contexts ranging from South Asia to Europe and the US. Coming from the disciplines of history, anthropology, religious studies, literary studies and political science, the authors collectively demonstrate the need to combine a translocal perspective with very specific local and historical constellations. The book complicates conventional academic divisions and invites to think in historically specific translocal contexts.
Known as the 'Gate to Mecca' or 'Bride of the Red Sea', Jeddah has been a gateway for pilgrims ... more Known as the 'Gate to Mecca' or 'Bride of the Red Sea', Jeddah has been a gateway for pilgrims travelling to Mecca and Medina and a station for international trade routes between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean for centuries. Seen from the perspective of its diverse population, this first biography of Jeddah traces the city's urban history and cosmopolitanism from the late Ottoman period to its present-day claim to multiculturalism, within the conservative environment of the Arabian Peninsula. Contextualising Jeddah with developments in the wider Muslim world, Ulrike Freitag investigates how different groups of migrants interacted in a changing urban space and how their economic activities influenced the political framework of the city. Richly illustrated, this study reveals how the transformation of Jeddah's urban space, population and politics has been indicative of changes in the wider Arab and Red Sea region, re-evaluating its place in the Middle East at a time when both its cosmopolitan practices and old city are changing dramatically against a backdrop of modernisation and Saudi nation-building.
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Papers by Ulrike Freitag