Abstract Lebanese history is rooted in a culture of sectarianism that has prevented the development of a common national identity and fostered a sectarian mindset among the Lebanese, reflected in concerns that any change benefiting one sect may threaten the existence of another. Using social identity, terror management and system justification theories, this article discusses the sectarian mindset of Lebanese people from a psychological perspective, highlighting the cognitive and psychosocial operations at play within a complex dynamic of politics and religion. The article calls for a revision of concepts such as identity, belonging and coexistence, based on mutual knowledge and mutual trust-building.
Abstract This article examines the perceptions of Jewish-Israeli television drama creators on their social and political roles during times of war and political crisis in Israel and Palestine. An analysis of interviews conducted between 2023 and 2024, during a period of significant upheaval—including an attempt at judicial overhaul, the 7 October 2023 terror attack near the Gaza Strip, and the multi-front Gaza War that resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian casualties—reveals contradictions in the views of creators. While they aspire to artistic autonomy, market pressures and political constraints often lead to self-censorship. This self-justifying framework not only limits creative freedom but also silences political critique, further restricting their ability to reflect on political issues.
Abstract This article investigates the mobilization of cultural memory in Raja Alem’s The Dove’s Necklace (2016), positioning the novel as a mnemonic archive through which Saudi identity is negotiated, contested and reclaimed. Through mechanisms of subaltern memory practices, spatial palimpsests and embodied recollection, Alem inscribes a counter-archive that privileges localized truth-making over imported epistemologies. Informed by theoretical standpoints from cultural memory studies, particularly Andreas Huyssen’s urban palimpsests and the politics of memory, Pierre Nora’s concept of lieux de memoire , Jan Assmann’s notion of cultural memory as institutionalized remembrance and Aleida Assmann’s concept of memory work, the study explores how Alem’s narrative performs a resistance to hegemonic memory scripts imposed by both global Orientalist imaginaries and essentialist notions of selective forgetting. The study argues that contemporary Saudi fiction functions as a site of cultural self-narration, facilitating ontological autonomy in the face of reductive global framings.
Abstract Framed by social network theory, this study explores transnational communication between Syrian refugees in Türkiye and their homeland networks, analyzing how these ties influence return preparedness. Based on in-depth interviews with 37 participants in Istanbul conducted before the 2024 regime change, the research examines how structural barriers impede reintegration. Findings demonstrate that deep-seated sectarian cleavages, pervasive fear of surveillance—inherited from the Mukhabarat era and evolving into mistrust fueled by power vacuums—and chronic infrastructure failures have structurally severed refugees’ ties with Syria. The study argues that despite the December 2024 political transformation, the destruction of bonding social capital and persistent obstruction of communication channels prevent the mobilization of resources essential for return. Consequently, social and technological devastation continues to confine refugees to a state of systematic unpreparedness, constituting the most fundamental barrier to sustainable reintegration in the new Syria.
