Familiar Futures: Time, Selfhood, and Sovereignty in Iraq

Iraq was the first postcolonial state recognized by the League of Nations, and it was the site of development projects designed by Iraqi intellectuals, British colonial officials, American modernization theorists, and postwar international agencies. Familiar Futures explores how these projects reshaped Iraqi everyday habits, desires, and familial relations in the name of a developed future. Sara Pursley investigates how Western and Iraqi policymakers promoted changes in schooling, land ownership, and family law to better differentiate Iraq's citizens by class, sex, and age.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 15 January 2019
Publisher: Stanford University Press

Iraq, a remarkable postcolonial nation, gained legal sovereignty recognition from the League of Nations amidst the sweeping wave of decolonization movements in the 20th century. It emerged as a pioneering hub for development projects, meticulously crafted by a collective of Iraqi intellectuals, British colonial officials, American modernization theorists, and postwar international agencies. These projects, spanning from the country's establishment under British mandate rule in 1920 to the tumultuous 1958 revolution and the subsequent Ba th coup in 1963, profoundly impacted Iraqi society, shaping its daily habits, desires, and familial relations in pursuit of a envisioned developed future.

In her insightful work, Sara Pursley delves into the intricate mechanisms through which Western and Iraqi policymakers actively promoted sweeping changes in schooling, land ownership, and family law. These reforms aimed to create a hierarchical system that distinguished Iraq's citizens based on class, sex, and age. Peasants were resettled on isolated family farms, receiving education primarily focused on agricultural skills for rural boys, while girls were mandated to take home economics courses. Adolescents, on the other hand, were subjected to education that emphasized the formation of proper families. These future-oriented discourses, while purporting to advance Iraq's modernization, paradoxically deferred demands for political change in the present, perpetuating existing capitalist relations.

Ultimately, Familiar Futures paints a poignant picture of the relentless pursuit of economic development at the expense of democratic ideals. The book reveals how certain goods, most notably democratic principles, were repeatedly sacrificed in the name of the nation's economic progress, as the future seemed to recede ever further. It serves as a cautionary tale, reminding us of the complex trade-offs and unintended consequences that arise when nation-building initiatives prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability and human rights.

Weight: 636g
Dimension: 159 x 236 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780804793179