Everyday Life in the "Glitzy" City: Making Home in Dubai

Time: 6-7:30pm, EDT

The book is an urban ethnography that reveals how middle class-citizens and long-time residents of Dubai interact with the city’s spectacular and so-called "superficial" spaces to create meaningful social lives. It argues that residents adapt themselves to imposed spectacular structures, such as big shopping malls and new developments, while also making these same structures serve their own evolving social needs. By offering an alternative to the discourse of authenticity, elucidating the dynamics of ambivalent belonging, and theorizing adaptive agency, this book belies popular and scholarly stereotypes that portray Dubai’s developments as “inauthentic,” objectively alienating, and inherently disempowering.

This event is open to the general public. Registration (using the form on the right) is required. Vaccination status will be verified at the door. 

Speakers

• Rana Al Mutawa, Assistant Professor Emerging Scholar of Social Research and Public Policy, NYUAD