Last week, the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies welcomed Zainab Saleh, professor of anthropology at Haverford College, to give a talk about Iraqi Diasporas. It was called “Enduring in the Shadow of Empire: Authenticity and Resilience among the Iraqi Diaspora.” The event was co-sponsored by the Department of Global Interdisciplinary Studies and was ACS-approved, as well. Dr. Saleh is an accomplished and educated scholar who holds a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in art in English and anthropology, a master’s degree in arts in anthropology, and a master’s degree in philosophy in anthropology. Saneh’s field of expertise spans a wide range of topics, including but not limited to cultural anthropology, oil, violence, political mobilization, nationalism and citizenship, gender, diaspora and the Middle East.
Saleh has published multiple books, most notably, Return to Ruin: Iraqi Narratives of Exile and Nostalgia. Her books and cultural study surround questions of empire and colonialism, belonging and subjectivity, migration and diaspora and violence and knowledge production. Her work also focuses on imperial entanglements, providing an opportunity to critique Orientalist and culturalist interpretations of Iraq.
Saleh’s talk focused on understanding hybrid identities of Iraqis outside of Iraq through the concept of diasporas. A diaspora is the dispersion or spread of people from their original homeland, also referring to communities whose lives have been shaped by their migration experience. Her field work and dissertation focuses on the Iraqi Diaspora in London, where she explored the competition of what it means to be Iraqi. In her lecture, she introduced the idea of endurance as an indicator of an authentic Iraqi identity. In this perception of endurance, she notes that for the London Iraqis, a true Iraqi was one who lived under Sadam Hussein’s reign and the U.S’s occupation of Iraq, as their experiences told the true story.
Saleh told the story of her friend, Russia, a young woman who migrated from Iraq to Syria after Sadam Hussein’s takeover of Iraq. She described Russia’s perception as an “authentic Iraqi,” because her “roots marked her closeness to the downtrodden that represented the true Iraq, because of the decades of marginalization over middle class Baghdadis.” In the decades of endurance of suffering, Russia and her family witnessed the Gulf War, the sanction years, America’s attack on Iraq and of course, Saddam Hussein’s rule. Saleh described that through the endurance of these events, Russia and other Iraqis gained the identity of a real Iraqi, that other diasporic Iraqis in London did not.
“Endurance is not only about lingering and preserving…but also opens a space to redefine political belonging by displacing hegemonic discourses and producing alternative imaginations about Iraqiness,” Saleh said.
Saleh told attendees that the concept of endurance and the legacy of U.S. intervention strongly shaped the Iraqi social and political landscape.
“The history of the U.S and Iraq are deeply intertwined and have been shaped by the cold war and resource extraction,” Saleh said.
Both states were entangled in unequal power relations that refigured the lives of Iraqis, and American soldiers.
Despite the potential perception of the United States as a liberal state, Saleh notes that it was also an empire. She made the connection between settler colonialism, racism and economic hegemony. In addition to exploring the connection between these social concepts, Saleh defined the Iraqi experience by gender, as well. She discussed the perseverance of Iraqi women, and how this contributed to the Iraqi identity.
“Iraqi women who emerged as true Iraqis bore the brunt of imperial intervention and dictatorship,” Saleh said.
Saleh also discussed a golden time in Iraqi history, notably the 1940s to the 1950s. This time included a cultural revival that included intellectuals in shaping the future. Saleh mentioned other friends or Iraqis who yearned for the “old Iraq.”
Saleh emphasized the importance of endurance to the perceived “cultural authenticity” of being an Iraqi.
Russia’s authentic Iraqiness was defined by her “ability to endure and efforts to hold her family together during exile,” and her integrity as a woman.
“It’s Iraqi women from lower classes who bore the brunt of economic deprivation and wars,” Saleh said.
Amid the rule of Saddam Hussein and America’s invasion, the Iraqi people have “constantly lived in the shadows of war and imperial violence.”
They faced fear of life, loss of friends and homeland, environmental degradation, economic struggle and loss of social fabric.
