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AbstractAmong scholars seeking a framework for analysing post‐2003 intercommunal strife in Iraq, a sectarian master narrative gained dominance. It portrayed Iraq as an artificial creation of imperial powers, lacking a national identity. Scholarly challenge, however, has been gaining momentum. The study of postage stamp iconography presents a novel venue with which to contribute to this debate. Indeed, researchers of nations and nationalism emphasis the role stamps play in the visual construction and reproduction of national narratives and identities. The postage stamp imagery surveyed in post‐Saddam Iraq (2003–2011) is incompatible with the sectarian narrative. Rather, it reflects symbols that are consistent with territorial‐patriotic nationalism. Some evidence supports the notion that those in power used stamp iconography as a means of nationalist indoctrination; other evidence suggests that the government sought to enhance its legitimacy by embracing popular values. Either or both motivations lend credence to nationalism having considerable purchase in post‐Saddam Iraq.

In his "Note about the TermEffendiyyain the History of the Middle East" (International Journal of Middle East Studies41 [2009]: 535–39), Michael Eppel clarifies his own use ofeffendiyyain an article he wrote forIJMESin 1998. In the 1998 article, Eppel emphasized the value of studying theeffendiyya, or what he called the "Westernized middle stratum," and its dominance in political life to better understand Hashimite Iraq (1921–58). Members of this group, he argued, benefited from modern education and donned Western dress. They were young state employees (officials, teachers, health workers, engineers, and, later, military officers) who adopted Arab nationalism and Pan-Arab ideology as a means to cope with their socioeconomic and political discontent. From the 1930s, Eppel noted, theeffendiyyacreated the radical political atmosphere that lent backing to the "militant-authoritarian trends" that led to the pro-German Rashid ʿAli coup and the war with Britain in 1941. After World War II, they joined with other nationalist forces to lead the 1948 Wathba (uprising) against prolonging the Anglo–Iraqi treaty. In 1958, the army officers among them overthrew the monarchy. This "middle stratum" differed from the Western concept of the "new middle class," and the indigenous Arabic termeffendiyya, as employed by Eppel, endeavored to grasp the essence of this difference. It reflected a common experience that was the result of its members' similar education, culture, and concerns rather than their economic status, social origins, and type of employment.

The history of the women's movement in Iraq before 1958 has received little attention in contemporary scholarly literature published in English. Moreover, when surveying the brief accounts in secondary sources, one is struck by their inconsistency. Upon closer examination, two historiographical approaches emerge. One primarily follows the development of women's activities sanctioned by the regime, focusing on organizations and activists associated with the Iraqi Women's Union, established in 1945. The second approach traces developments and organizations linked with the underground League for the Defense of Women's Rights, founded in 1952. This essay argues that members of the rival union and league constructed two competing narratives in presenting the history of the women's movement in pre-1958 Iraq. The article unpacks these two different narratives as they were originally articulated by activists in order to piece together a more elaborate portrayal of the evolution of the early Iraqi women's movement. The essay also explores how scholars have reproduced these narratives, arguing that both activists and researchers were active participants in a "war of narratives" that left women's history the unfortunate casualty

Recent attempts to abolish the Personal Status Law, in force since 1959, with the intent of placing family matters in the hands of religious authorities, caused an uproar among Iraqi women's rights activists. This article seeks to place the protest in its historical context by tracing
women's participation in shaping the Personal Status Law - touching upon both their achievements and disappointments. It highlights the threat that repealing the law would pose, not only to the advancements for which women activists have struggled long and hard, but more importantly to the
very channel which made these achievements possible. It also exposes the "hidden costs" of the protest. Activists' energies were diverted into preserving a law which left many demands unanswered, and away from promoting improved legislation.