The Life Worlds of Middle Eastern Oil

In the one hundred years or so since the birth of the Middle Eastern oil industry petroleum saturates its societies, cultures and politics, fueling cars, airplanes and wars, supplying energy for fridges, fans and air conditioners, creating glitzy modern cities, and subverting man made landscapes and natural environments. Oil’s miracles, spectacles and miseries are still with us, and will remain for some time to come. This multidisciplinary workshop penetrates the bituminous layers of the inner life of Middle Eastern oil, exploring how it affectes people’s social, cultural and political lives in the twentieth and twentieth-first centuries.

Convened by

• Nelida Fuccaro, Professor of Middle Eastern History; Associate Dean of Humanities, NYUAD
• Mandana Limbert, Associate Professor of Anthropology, CUNY:Queens College

Hosted by

• NYU Abu Dhabi Institute