Dr Ramy Aly

Biography

I joined the Department of Anthropology at Sussex in 2011 after completing a PhD in Social Anthropology at the Department. My thesis ‘Be(com)ing Arab in London: Performativity between Structures of Subjection’ was based fieldwork in London between 2006-2007 among young people born or raised in London to migrants from Arab States. In it I explore the discourses and practices which (re)produce notions of gender, race, ethnicity and class among young Arabs in London. Based on the anti-foundationalist proposition that one is not born but becomes an Arab in Britain I asks how Arab-ness is achieved by young people in London and how this might be informed by London’s ‘multicultural context’, ideologies of Arab-ness from the Middle East and the genealogy of discursive Arabs-ness in Britain.

I have taught at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the School of Global Studies since 2007. In 2010 I held a Research Fellowship at the Department of Geography and the Sussex Centre for Migration Research where I conducted research with Dr Michael Collyer on Migration Legislation, Institutions and Policies in the Euromed Region (Euromed Migration II). In March 2011 I co-founded the 'Public Service Broadcasting Initiative’ (Egypt) with Mr Ali Belail of Belial Media Production and Consulting. I have contributed to the research on Arabic language media for the 'Tuning In' and ‘Diasporas@TheWorldService' projects with Prof’Marie Gillespie at the Open University and the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change. I have also contributed to research on transnational Arab media and changing political cultures in the European Union at the LSE with Dr Myria Georgiou and Prof Christie Slade (City University).

Before my PhD I completed an M.Sc. in Comparative and Cross Cultural Research Methods in 2005 (Sussex University) an M.A. In Middle East Politics and International Security at the University of Exeter in 2000 and a BA in Law with American Studies in 1998 (Sussex).

Role

Lecturer in Anthropology

Other affiliations:

Sussex Centre for Migration Research.

Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies.

Department of Media, Film and Music (Sussex)

Department of International Relations (Sussex)

Arab Studies Group (UK)

Middle East Studies Group (UK)

Performativity of gender and race; Discourse, cultural production and social struggle; Media and socio-cultural change in Arab World; Material and visual cultures; Arab Cultural Studies; Cultural practices of Second generation British-Arabs; Arab migrants in the UK; History of Arab London.

Selected Publications

Aly, R & Baumann, G. (2012) The BBC World Service in Arabic: A Dilemmatic Triangle Competing Elites, Conflicting Priorities, and Contested Media Strategies. In Gillespie and Webb (Eds.) Cosmopolitan Contact Zones at the BBC World Service. (CRESC) Routledge, London. (Forthcoming)

Aly, R (2012) Producing men, the Nation and Commodities: Militarism in Egypt. In Selby and Stavrianakis (eds.)  Contemporary Militarism: Towards a New Research Agenda for International Relations. Routledge, London. (Forthcoming)

Aly, R (2011). Mediating ‘the Nation’: from State to Public Service Broadcasting, critically engaging Egypt as a complex society. Arab Media and Society July 2011    

Aly, R (2011) Public Policy Recommendations for Arab Media and Citizenship in the UK.

Collyer, M & Aly, R (2011) Migration Legislation, Institutions and Policies in the Euromed Region (Euromed Migration II). Sussex Centre for Migration Research, University of Sussex, UK.                                                                               

Aly, R  & Georgiou, M (2010) Media, Citizenship and Arab Transnational Television Cultures in London.

Aly, R (2010) ‘Transnational Arab Media in London’. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism. 11(6).

Religion and Ritual (L6040)

The Allure of Things (V3021)

Discourse Analysis (519X8)

Culture and Representation (L6063)

Politics, Power and Legitimacy (L6052)

Reading Ethnography (L6060)

Anthropology of Activism

Student Consultation

Autumn Term

Tuesdays 4-6pm Arts C325

Aly, Ramy and Baumann, Gerd (2012) The BBC Arabic Service's dilemmatic triangle: competing elites, conflicting priorities, contested media strategies. In: Diasporas and diplomacy: cosmopolitan contact zones at the BBC World Service (1932-2012). Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9780415508803

Aly, Ramy M K (2012) Producing men, the nation and commodities: the cultural political economy of militarism in Egypt. In: Militarism and international relations : political economy, security and theory. Cass military studies . Routledge. ISBN 9780415614917 (hbk.) 9780203101476 (e-book)

Aly, Ramy (2011) Mediating 'the Nation': from State to Public Service Broadcasting, critically engaging Egypt as a complex society. Arab Media and Society (14). ISSN 1687-7721

Aly, Ramy and Collyer, Michael (2011) Migration Legislation, Institutions and Policies in the Euromed Region (Euromed Migration II). Unset. European Commission.

Aly, Ramy (2010) Transnational media use: London. Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, 11 (6). pp. 746-751. ISSN 0022-5193