Haraka: Experimental Lab for Arab Art and Social Thought

Typical calls to decenter social theory have taken one of two approaches: a postcolonial approach (bring the “periphery” into the center, e.g., Said) or a decolonial (ignore the center and engage in south/south collaborations, e.g., Mignolo). New York University’s global network allows for a unique opportunity to rethink approaches to decentering the canon in both the humanities and the social sciences and to test those out in various types of classes at the university. A conference titled Centers and Peripheries will convene a variety of social scientists from the region who have been working on the question of decentering social theory through the Arab Council for Social Sciences (ACSS) and International Sociology Association (focusing on the Global South), as well as, social scientists based in the US and Europe who have incorporated decolonial approaches in their work (e.g., the Global(de)Center). Through engaging in exchange about the different experiences and approaches to conceptualizing Global Social Theory and creating a dialogue with al-Mawrid’s decentering of the Art History canon, we can create more synergistic processes and outcomes. The conference will result in an edited volume and syllabi on Arab Social Thought and Global Social Thought. An exhibition of artistic work that echoes and explores conference themes will also be held on campus.

Haraka’s third project is a mobile conversational platform called Plurilogue Talks. Plurilogue, a term that evokes the notion of dialogue that goes beyond two sides, is based on engaging artists and social scientists working on the region in Arabic and English. The presentations will depart from the typical talk + Q/A format. Plurilogue is akin to a roundtable discussion in which the invited speaker shares his/her research for 15 minutes followed by introductions/ interventions by everyone else around the table. All participants are required to situate their own work in relation to their location in their institutions, geographies, and trajectories as well as to the speaker’s presentation. The attendees are social scientists whose work focuses on the Gulf region and artists and art historians whose work illustrates aspects of social and political life in the Gulf. Through producing more situated conversations about our work, we build a new community that isn’t simply producing work about “here” for an audience “out there.” Rather participants become aware of the politics of knowledge production in their own research and build constituencies and communities who are invested in going beyond institutional and geographic boundaries of the academy. Plurilogue Talks will be hosted by partner organizations to connect and activate the role of NYU alumni in the region. Through designing a more permeable campus/community connection and engaging in conversations about social science research that give space to reflect on process and not just outcome, the initiative hopes to create more effective spaces for decentered knowledge production about the region.

Maha to Populate