Popular souqs: who buys and who comes to look?
The old markets are still standing, but their customers have changed. What does it mean for a souq to become a destination?
Published work
Memory
What is not said twice is forgotten once.
Field notebook: three days in a popular souq
A monthly column written by a researcher from the field — this time from the alleys of a souq whose arrangement has not changed in decades.
Arabic coffee: a social ritual that outlasts its era
The small cup of Arabic coffee condenses every value of hospitality, generosity and tribal belonging. A study of daily ritual in Saudi life.
The majlis: social engineering before it is a room
Who sits at the head? And who by the door? Seating in the majlis is a map of relations drawn on the floor.
The aflaj: engineering water before the pump
How did people divide scarce water fairly for centuries, with no central authority to impose the share?
The old souq: the city’s theatre and its memory
The old souq in the Arab city is not only a place of buying and selling. It is a social theatre, a civilisational archive, and a map of identity drawn in people, smells and sounds.
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