Sami Hermez
Biographic Data
| ID | 93636 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sami Hermez |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sami |
| FAMILY NAME | Hermez |
| SIGNATURE | HERMEZ S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northwestern University in Qatar |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9509-9514 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 83 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Essays on Shami Futures
The Levantine Warscape
After Liberation
This article might be read as speculative fiction. Yet, with some political imagination and belief, it should be read as what has come to pass-an inevitable reality. This is the first time anyone has exposed the facts of what happens in the Levant after Israel's collapse. The account is based on eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in Bilad Al-Sham (AlSham for short), approximately ten years after the liberation of Palestine and the fall of …
Resistant ecologies and the bi'a beyond methodological nationalism
Critical Security and Anthropology from the Middle East
This colloquy takes the Middle East region as a starting point from which to explore a contrapuntal concept of security that is subverted from its original meaning and captured from the state. The essays follow the lives of revolutionary youth, doctors, commodity traders, refugees, and spies to examine their experiences of (in)security. In doing so, the essays deploy storytelling and other ethnographic forms to think of the political economy, emo…
Dehumanization in War and Peace
Between 2006 and 2009, I attended various peacebuilding and antiwar events in Lebanon, from dialogue sessions and workshops to lectures and demonstrations. One refrain at these events was that war should be avoided because it was dehumanizing or, in a slightly different form, that it results in a loss of humanity. Alongside these gatherings, I conducted interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with former militia fighters from Lebanon's war (1975-19…
Towards a Beirut School of critical security studies
This collectively written work offers a map of our ongoing efforts to work through critical approaches to the study of security and global politics with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa, engaging both experiences and voices of scholars from and working in the region. The unique contribution of the project, we suggest, is threefold. First, we reflect on our commitment to decolonial pedagogy, and how our collective experiences organising…
War Is Coming
War Is Coming is an ethnographic study that sheds light on the everyday conversations, practices, and experiences of people in Lebanon who live in between moments of political violence, remember past wars, and anticipate future turmoil
The Insecure City
Reviewed by: The Insecure City: Space, Power, and Mobility in Beirut by Kristin V. Monroe Sami Hermez Kristin V. Monroe, The Insecure City: Space, Power, and Mobility in Beirut. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2016. 204 pp. Traffic might be the single most important daily concern of people in Beirut. The city's congestion and accompanying discourses of chaos are practically inescapable and they are likely to infiltrate any conversation. …
When the state is (n)ever present
This article looks at the way cynical reasoning consumes political action in Lebanon. Through ethnographic observations with political activists and former militia fighters, specifically during the final days of the 2009 Lebanese parliamentary elections, I show how cynicism is present in political mobilization. I argue that political mobilization moves between modes of cynicism and resistance, calling on us to see these two postures as discursive…
The War is Going to Ignite
In this article, I elaborate on the constant anticipation of violence that runs deep within society in Lebanon. My objective is to think of the mundane locations of violence, and how we come to live the violence in and through ordinary times; my motivation here is to inquire into the different ways people experience war and its aftermath. I also explore the ways that violence is present and implicated in the ordinary rather than the two being mut…
On Dignity and Clientelism
Activism as 'Part-Time' Activity
This article is a reflection on activism and ethnography during times of conflict in Lebanon. It focuses on this through activist work the researcher was involved in during the July 2006 war and beyond. The article looks at commitment as one technique of activism, asking how activists achieve their goals, following this by asking what a commitment to ethnography looks like in the midst of conflict. Solidarity and commitment become tropes to think…
War and Memory in Lebanon by Sune Haugbolle
When the state is (n)ever present
This article looks at the way cynical reasoning consumes political action in Lebanon. Through ethnographic observations with political activists and former militia fighters, specifically during the final days of the 2009 Lebanese parliamentary elections, I show how cynicism is present in political mobilization. I argue that political mobilization moves between modes of cynicism and resistance, calling on us to see these two postures as discursive…
The War is Going to Ignite
In this article, I elaborate on the constant anticipation of violence that runs deep within society in Lebanon. My objective is to think of the mundane locations of violence, and how we come to live the violence in and through ordinary times; my motivation here is to inquire into the different ways people experience war and its aftermath. I also explore the ways that violence is present and implicated in the ordinary rather than the two being mut…
Towards a Beirut School of critical security studies
This collectively written work offers a map of our ongoing efforts to work through critical approaches to the study of security and global politics with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa, engaging both experiences and voices of scholars from and working in the region. The unique contribution of the project, we suggest, is threefold. First, we reflect on our commitment to decolonial pedagogy, and how our collective experiences organising…
Critical Security and Anthropology from the Middle East
This colloquy takes the Middle East region as a starting point from which to explore a contrapuntal concept of security that is subverted from its original meaning and captured from the state. The essays follow the lives of revolutionary youth, doctors, commodity traders, refugees, and spies to examine their experiences of (in)security. In doing so, the essays deploy storytelling and other ethnographic forms to think of the political economy, emo…
On Dignity and Clientelism
Activism as 'Part-Time' Activity
This article is a reflection on activism and ethnography during times of conflict in Lebanon. It focuses on this through activist work the researcher was involved in during the July 2006 war and beyond. The article looks at commitment as one technique of activism, asking how activists achieve their goals, following this by asking what a commitment to ethnography looks like in the midst of conflict. Solidarity and commitment become tropes to think…
Dehumanization in War and Peace
Between 2006 and 2009, I attended various peacebuilding and antiwar events in Lebanon, from dialogue sessions and workshops to lectures and demonstrations. One refrain at these events was that war should be avoided because it was dehumanizing or, in a slightly different form, that it results in a loss of humanity. Alongside these gatherings, I conducted interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with former militia fighters from Lebanon's war (1975-19…
After Liberation
This article might be read as speculative fiction. Yet, with some political imagination and belief, it should be read as what has come to pass-an inevitable reality. This is the first time anyone has exposed the facts of what happens in the Levant after Israel's collapse. The account is based on eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in Bilad Al-Sham (AlSham for short), approximately ten years after the liberation of Palestine and the fall of …
Resistant ecologies and the bi'a beyond methodological nationalism
On Dignity and Clientelism
Activism as 'Part-Time' Activity
This article is a reflection on activism and ethnography during times of conflict in Lebanon. It focuses on this through activist work the researcher was involved in during the July 2006 war and beyond. The article looks at commitment as one technique of activism, asking how activists achieve their goals, following this by asking what a commitment to ethnography looks like in the midst of conflict. Solidarity and commitment become tropes to think…
War and Memory in Lebanon by Sune Haugbolle
The War is Going to Ignite
In this article, I elaborate on the constant anticipation of violence that runs deep within society in Lebanon. My objective is to think of the mundane locations of violence, and how we come to live the violence in and through ordinary times; my motivation here is to inquire into the different ways people experience war and its aftermath. I also explore the ways that violence is present and implicated in the ordinary rather than the two being mut…
When the state is (n)ever present
This article looks at the way cynical reasoning consumes political action in Lebanon. Through ethnographic observations with political activists and former militia fighters, specifically during the final days of the 2009 Lebanese parliamentary elections, I show how cynicism is present in political mobilization. I argue that political mobilization moves between modes of cynicism and resistance, calling on us to see these two postures as discursive…
War Is Coming
War Is Coming is an ethnographic study that sheds light on the everyday conversations, practices, and experiences of people in Lebanon who live in between moments of political violence, remember past wars, and anticipate future turmoil
The Insecure City
Reviewed by: The Insecure City: Space, Power, and Mobility in Beirut by Kristin V. Monroe Sami Hermez Kristin V. Monroe, The Insecure City: Space, Power, and Mobility in Beirut. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2016. 204 pp. Traffic might be the single most important daily concern of people in Beirut. The city's congestion and accompanying discourses of chaos are practically inescapable and they are likely to infiltrate any conversation. …
Towards a Beirut School of critical security studies
This collectively written work offers a map of our ongoing efforts to work through critical approaches to the study of security and global politics with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa, engaging both experiences and voices of scholars from and working in the region. The unique contribution of the project, we suggest, is threefold. First, we reflect on our commitment to decolonial pedagogy, and how our collective experiences organising…
Dehumanization in War and Peace
Between 2006 and 2009, I attended various peacebuilding and antiwar events in Lebanon, from dialogue sessions and workshops to lectures and demonstrations. One refrain at these events was that war should be avoided because it was dehumanizing or, in a slightly different form, that it results in a loss of humanity. Alongside these gatherings, I conducted interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with former militia fighters from Lebanon's war (1975-19…
Critical Security and Anthropology from the Middle East
This colloquy takes the Middle East region as a starting point from which to explore a contrapuntal concept of security that is subverted from its original meaning and captured from the state. The essays follow the lives of revolutionary youth, doctors, commodity traders, refugees, and spies to examine their experiences of (in)security. In doing so, the essays deploy storytelling and other ethnographic forms to think of the political economy, emo…
Resistant ecologies and the bi'a beyond methodological nationalism
After Liberation
This article might be read as speculative fiction. Yet, with some political imagination and belief, it should be read as what has come to pass-an inevitable reality. This is the first time anyone has exposed the facts of what happens in the Levant after Israel's collapse. The account is based on eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in Bilad Al-Sham (AlSham for short), approximately ten years after the liberation of Palestine and the fall of …
Essays on Shami Futures
The Levantine Warscape
Middle East Politics and Society (12 works) · Political science (11 works) · Law (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies (8 works) · Politics (8 works) · Law (6 works) · Anthropology (5 works) · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts (5 works) · Ethnography (4 works)