Al-Amn Magazine

A Protect i ng Arab i dent i ty Compet i t i ve worl d of h i gher educat i on EDUCATION rab Gulf countries need to navigate the epistemic and identity crises caused by the impact of Western institutions and models, including study abroad, and find a way to preserve cultural and traditional values while still embracing international education, according to a recent study. The paper, “Towards a ‘study at home’ education in the Arab Gulf region: Reterritorializing the ‘study abroad’ model”, examines the impact of internationalised education on Gulf Arab identity from cultural and epistemological perspectives. It was published in the January 2024 issue of Journal of Gulf Studiesand authored by Wisam Kh Abdul- Jabbar, visiting professor at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. Speaking to University World News, Adul-Jabbar said the study provides “important take-away messages” to higher education policy-makers and decision- makers in Arab Gulf countries seeking to “preserve cultural and traditional values while embracing international education”, which, he said, is considered “a significant point in producing skillful human resources with a protected Arab Gulf identity to drive sustainable development”. “The study highlights the identity crisis faced by Arab Gulf countries due to the proliferation of American and Western institutions,” he said. The research draws on the concepts of deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation, used by Deleuze and Guattari in works such as A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, to analyse the changes and challenges faced by the Gulf educational landscape in the 20th century. Adul-Jabbar said while deterritorialisation refers to the breaking down of existing territorial structures, disrupting norms and power relations through technology, migration, globalisation, or cultural exchange, reterritorialisation involves the establishment of new territorial structures in response to deterritorialisation, aiming to restore stability and identity. These processes are interconnected and occur at both macro and micro levels, impacting societies and individuals. They highlight the dynamic nature of social and cultural change, emphasising the constant formation, transformation, and contestation of territories and identities, he said. Disruption of tradition “The study argues that deterritorialization, which refers to the breaking down of established cultural and educational structures,