Suchergebnisse

Digital technologies have become deeply implicated in and constitutive of contemporary social life. They are reshaping who we are and how we associate with one another, and are profoundly reconfiguring social relations, processes, and practices in a host of social spheres, particularly education. With Covid-19 further entrenching this implication and accelerating those changes, we are forced to rethink what research is and how it is done. This article presents a step towards researching a changing sociality using social media. Drawing on fieldwork on the digital transformation of Egyptian education, it argues that and showcases how WhatsApp can be systematically used as a qualitative data collection instrument to examine educational change. This article also situates WhatsApp research within digital ethnographic traditions, unpacks emergent methodological challenges and ethical quandaries, and presents potential ways to manage them. In so doing, it problematizes extant methodological categories (such as participation), entrenched dichotomies (such as private/public space), and epistemological questions (such as research temporality). Using a unique case from the Global South at an exceptional time of (educational) change, this article can help researchers as they think about their questions, design their research, conduct their fieldwork, and maneuver an elusive digital landscape. It informs broader methodological discussions within digital sociology and anthropology (of education), digital ethnography, and social media research. It also informs research in other domains like healthcare, geographies beyond the Global South, and platforms with similar affordances like Telegram.

Tunesien hat bislang als einziges Land des Arabischen Frühlings einen demokratischen Weg eingeschlagen. Gleichzeitig hat der "Islamische Staat" (IS) nirgendwo so großen Zulauf wie hier, kommt die größte Gruppe ausländischer Jihadisten des IS aus Tunesien. Fast vier Jahren nach dem Sturz des autokratischen Herrschers Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali schaffte das kleine nordafrikanische Land mit freien Wahlen den letzten Schritt zur Demokratie. Der "Arabische Frühling" begann mit der Selbstverbrennung des Gemüsehändlers Mohamed Bouazizi am 17. Dezember 2010 nach einem Streit mit einer Polizistin in Sidi Bouzid. Dies war der Auftakt für landesweite Unruhen und Aufstände. Es waren vorwiegend schlechte Lebensbedingungen sowie die Arbeits- und Perspektivlosigkeit der Jugend, die die Menschen auf die Straße trieben, aber auch die Monopolisierung von Reichtümern durch die Präsidentenfamilie. Im Januar 2011 wurde der Präsident Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali zum Rücktritt gezwungen, woraufhin er fluchtartig das Land verließ.

Advances in UAE Archaeology details the results of new excavations conducted across the United Arab Emirates over the last few years. These excavations have revealed a wealth of new data on all periods of UAE archaeology from the Palaeolithic to the recent past. Some of these discoveries have filled in important gaps in our knowledge, while others have fundamentally revised what we thought we knew already. For example, the Marawah Island excavations have added a new facet to our understanding of the Neolithic period by revealing intriguing and hitherto unknown funerary rituals. Excavations in Al Ain in the emirate of Abu Dhabi continue to reveal extraordinary evidence of emgt falaj emgirrigation, stretching back 3000 years. The ubiquity of this system across this oasis city further validates its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Of particular importance is the discovery of extensive remains from the Late Pre-Islamic period, a significant time in history that has been best revealed in the excavations at Mleiha in the emirate of Sharjah.The research presented here was conducted by specialists from across the world working alongside an ever-growing cadre of Emirati archaeologists who will take the lead in the coming years in revealing more of this country's extraordinary archaeology and history.

Using a qualitative methodology of personal interviews and participant observation, this research investigates the role of Emirati women in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent impact/challenges. Research participants included female Emirati health care workers and educationists. We observed Emirati families to help better understand the challenges women went through during the pandemic. Contrary to existing narratives about the invisibility, docility, marginalization, victimhood, and dependency of Arab women, this research reveals that Emirati women were able to exercise agency in the fight against the pandemic due to the following factors: longstanding government empowerment of women, a sense of patriotism, supportive male relatives, and female dominance in the health and educational sectors. During the pandemic, Emirati women have contributed in the following ways as: volunteers; international aid workers; care givers; health information agents; and virtual teachers. Despite this, challenges abound because of the following: increased family conflict; domestic violence; the psychological toll of Covid-related deaths; economic challenges; and increased domestic responsibilities. The Emirati women's case provides lessons for policy makers and societies desirous of women's empowerment.