Celebrating the launch of Social Change in Syria: Family, Village and Political Party by Syrian anthropologist Sulayman Khalaf

Abstract

To celebrate the publication of this seminal work, the Centre for Syrian Studies at St. Andrews’ University and Brunel University hosted on June 25th 2021 an online book launch. In our online madafa, we were joined by esteemed scholars of Syria from anthropology, historical sociology, social geography, Arabic Literature and politics. Since Khalaf’s book is so multifaceted, we had a hard time narrowing down who and what would be discussed. Indeed, we invited speakers and asked them to speak to particular themes of the book (such as tribes, Orientalism, or neoliberalism). Having, thus, asked of our guests to provide their ‘homework’, we were pleasantly surprised by our participants’ intellectual engagement as much as by their personal recollections of Sulayman as a teacher, mentor, friend. We decided, then, to publish their critical appraisals in this online special review. We hope you will enjoy it, as we believe that works like Khalaf’s illuminate crucial spheres of Syria, and will lead to future scholarship.