There’s an interesting lecture this coming Wednesday at AUK called Kuwait’s Urban Crisis that will be presented by Dr. Farah Al-Nakib.
Over the past couple of years Kuwait has witnessed fatal stabbings of young men in shopping malls and an escalation of similar violent crimes in so-called “public” places, prompting valid questions over the rise in youth violence in Kuwait. Rather than positing answers, this talk identifies these stabbings and the public reactions to them as symptoms of a broader social malaise and urban crisis in Kuwait, and situates them within a historical context of Kuwait’s evolving urbanism and the loss of what French urban theorist Henri Lefebvre refers to as a “right to the city.” The talk then highlights seemingly disparate and unrelated sites, practices, and movements emerging in Kuwait today that have the potential to collectively create an urban alternative and alleviate this looming crisis.
Date: Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Time: 5:00PM
Location: AUK Auditorium
11 replies on “Kuwait’s Urban Crisis: Malls, Violence, and the Right to the City”
interesting, plan to attend!!
It only took a few decades to see this coming.
Its like a kid sitting on a train track. Just because no train passed on it for 2 decades doesn’t mean none will till the kid gets fatally hit …. Then the masses wake up …
Kudos to the speaker and the young minds that’ll attend.
You know growing up there would be massive fights in Salmiya all the time. I remember knowing people that were stabbed 10 years ago (not fatally) and on more than one occasion having friends who were jumped and attacked by complete strangers ending up with broken bones. Back then it wasn’t something that would make it into the news for whatever reason, it would just sort of fall under “oh boys will be boys”. I think a lot of parents wouldn’t even know it was something that was going on. There were places (Arena in Salmiya) where 13 year old kids would go to smoke because it was dark and you were sitting in front of a computer, and there was no ventilation and you’d come out smelling like an ashtray.
That said both of the publicized mall stabbings involved Bedoun and everyone seems to completely ignore this? I’m not saying it was the fault of Bedoun, or that it was the fault of other nationalities’ treatment of the Bedoun. But it’s pretty damn clear there is an issue here that needs to be addressed and the official response is pretending it doesn’t exist.
does anybody know what Dr. Farah Al-Nakib’s Ph.D is?
It’s in history from the School or Oriental and African Studies in London
This is way overblown. Kuwait’s crisis has nothing to do with violence. Kuwait, and the GCC countries in general, are some of the safest places to be in the world.
“way overblown” – Yeah right, tell that to the families of the people who got stabbed (and those who ended up dead).
All of the stabbers are troubled youth and mostly foreigners (two Iraqis, one Saudi, two Bedouins and one Kuwaiti).
Hardly any of the stabbers are Kuwaitis, is it Kuwait’s fault that a bunch of Iraqis and Saudis like to stir trouble?
Rom – Doesn’t matter what papers they hold, they all live in Kuwait.
1. You said it, not me. (i.e. stabbers being Kuwaiti).
2. Oh, only expats stir trouble, Kuwaitis NEVER, they are angels.
That makes it a crisis? Seriously, what kind of argument is that?