In Defense of the Scholar of the Middle East

Instead of posting an impossibly long diatribe this time, I'd like to let someone else's writing do it for me.

This article comes from, of all places, campus watch, though it is written by an eminent historian Zachary Lockman who has written several fine articles on social history. This particular one outlines the difficulties the discipline of Middle Eastern Studies has gone through in contemporary times.

http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/2120

I highly recommend breezing over it to give you an idea of just how full of politicized bullshit on all ends is the current state of the field. In my view, this is horrifically damaging to scientific research, especially for what I would consider a very young discipline, and as such, with many flaws and omissions yet to be adressed. Yet, these problems cannot be solved adequately while scholars are being polarized along political lines, and both internal and external interests are sabotaging the discipline before it even becomes adequately robust.

My main concern, of course, is the next generation of scholars, of whom I am a part. As a grad student and as someone who knows many other grad students, I can tell you that this is both above our heads and interests yet always a spectre in the back of our minds. It's a hot button issue which we cannot ignore, and which we know could pervert the very reasons we got into the field, which were, by and large, benign and apolitical. We wanted to pursue something which interested us in a scientific, or at least objective, fashion. We did not ask to take sides for anything but logic and the evidence. And yet, if the current climate continues to deteriorate the discipline, even we may find that impossible.

I know this is also a concern for many other scholars and students in the sciences where politics has made an entry. Biology in particular is facing a similar situation with the creationist agenda. The difference is, however, that the biological revolution initated by Darwin and the idea of evolution has since become very robust, and is in many ways a mature (if still incomplete) field of study. Middle Eastern Studies has had a similar revolutionary turn within the last 50 years or so, of whom Edward Said is often seen as the spokeman, but really was initiated earlier with the work of Albert Hourani and his like. Middle Eastern Studies has had to completely re-adjust itself to new theories which dispense with the old (and widely disproven) biases which had accumulated since the beginnings of so-called "Oriental Studies," and right now historians are beginning to ask amazing new ideas which have opened the field to possibilities never dreamed of before, and begun enabling it to ask productive questions which went unasked for centuries. But, all of this is merely in its beginning stages, especially given the fact that funding has only come in impressive amounts since recent circumstances in the region itself drew America into that political arena. Biology, in contrast, is a much elder field. Biology and its foundation in evolution are a staple of every college campus and even most high schools; study of the Middle East is very rare in high school, and on colleges the programs are typically either very small or non-existant. Biologists have collected and analyzed buckets full of evidence which has helped them to modify and strengthen their theories; Middle Eastern scholars are now faced with a daunting mass, several archives big, of untouched historical resources which heretofore have been ignored. And, most importantly, biology and biologists have enough support where they may be able to, with some effort, effectively resist the politicization and downfall of their discipline. Middle East Studies, on the other hand, has not had the time or resources to build itself up enough to guard itself against such attacks.

What I would like to see, personally, is a greater involvement among other scientists and students of the sciences (in all disciplines, physical to social) in the defense of rational inquiry. Middle Eastern Studies is not a willy-nilly art class or humanity; it is, ideally, a sophisticated study of the interrelation of social factors within a significant part of the world, based on evidence and sound reasoning from documented sources. It is not a science like any other, but that does not mean it is therefore not a science. It's major downfall is its youth, and so long as it is free to develop, its potential is astounding. But, if it is stifled before it can mature, then it does a diservice to all seekers of knowledge. The humanities don't want us, the sciences don't like us, and thus far the only attention we've gotten outside the discipline is from ideologues who wish to use us as a political punching bag. If this keeps up, it's not long before we go away for good, or worse, turn into what we were under the Oriental Studies label: nothing more than a justification for political excess under the guise of academic credibility.

So, let this be a call to arms to all those who love knowledge, regardless of the specific narrow field. You do not, of course, have to become a scholar of the Middle East yourselves. Rather, it is enough to have you demand greater intellect from the public discourse, to ignore or better yet criticize the ignorance of politicized pundits who try to discuss the Middle East with no fact or solid reasoning. Stand up against the political brow-beating which has plagued us, and don't accept it. There is a vast ocean of biased misinformation out there, and all it takes to spot it is some rigorous logic and common sense; indeed, no real expertise is needed to do this much. And finally, if you are a professor of the sciences (or the humanities for that matter), talk to Middle Eastern scholars at your schools and let them know that you are behind their academic freedom and will defend them against inflamatory and defamatory comments which will come their way (and both conservative and liberal and even a-political professors of the Middle East will receive such comments, believe me). We all need to break down these artificial barriers between disciplines and recognize that ultimately we're on the same team.