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Being Modern in the Middle East: Revolution, Nationalism, Colonialism, and the Arab Middle Class

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In a remarkable piece of scholarship, Watenpaugh situates the concept of "modernity" at the core of the middle class experience in Aleppo from the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 through the end of the mandate period in 1946. "Modernity" - a term which is often over-used and inadequately historicized by many scholars - here avoids anachronism, and indeed, one of the major historiographical contributions of Watenpaugh's text is the grounded and intricate examination of precisely what it was to "be modern" in a period marked by numerous challenges to the formation of various modes of identity. As Watenpaugh's nuanced and sophisticated analysis reveals, "being modern" was not simply a discursive act of saying so - rather, in this case, modernity was a conscious and contentious process of invention by a disparate middle class attempting to situtate itself in the midst of an array of social and politcal changes. It is refreshing to read scholarship that does not shy away from the making of the middle class; and Watenpaugh's careful treatment of such an analytical category provides a useful investagative framework for scholars whose work falls outside the Middle East. Finally, by situating an "experience of modernity" as an internal facet of middle class identity in Aleppo - rather than as an externally imposed product of the "West" or an unconscious mimicry of Western practices - it once again becomes clear that circuits of transnational dialogue need critical engagment before we can posit the a priori existence of all of the "isms" found in Watenpaugh's title.