Looking at Law and Legal Phenomena through the Lens of Arab Cinema and Drama
Episode Description
In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Dr Fatima Ahdash (Hamad Bin Khalifa University) about looking at law through the lens of Arab cinema and drama. Fatmia shows that while the importance of understanding how law and legal concepts are reflected in popular culture is evident, Eurocentric research still sidelines the rich history and presence of Arab popular cultures. In her example of analysing a popular Arabic TV series, she shows how it can help to understand everyday engagement with legal concepts and the in-between spaces of the personal, political and social. She walks us through her method of analysing the series, including translation issues, and highlights the value of collaborating with other researchers and communities in our research.
Readings recommended by Fatima Ahdash
- Silbey JM. (2002). What We Do When We Do Law and Popular Culture. Law & Social Inquiry 27(1):139-168.
- Hammond, Andrew (2007). Popular Culture in the Arab World: Arts, Politics, and the Media. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press.
- Robson, P., Osborn, G., Greenfield, S. (2014). The Impact of Film and Television on Perceptions of Law and Justice: Towards a Realisable Methodology. In: Wagner, A., Sherwin, R. (eds) Law, Culture and Visual Studies. Springer, Dordrecht.
Work by Fatima Ahdash
About the Speaker
Fatima Ahdash
Dr Fatima Ahdash is an Assistant Professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar. Previously, Fatima was a Lecturer in Law at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research interests lie in national security, family law, child rights and human rights and their various interactions. She uses a variety of socio-legal and feminist legal methods to critique the regulation of private life for public/state ends. She holds a PhD from the London School of Economics (LSE).