In this interview for STATUS/الوضع, host Katty Alhayek speaks with Marwan Kraidy about his new book The Naked Blogger of Cairo, which tackles creative insurgency and the Arab uprisings.
Marwan M. Kraidy is the Anthony Shadid Chair in Global Media, Politics and Culture, and Founding Director of the Project for Advanced Research in Global Communication (PARGC) at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, where he is also affiliated with the Middle East Center. An expert in global communication and a specialist in Arab media and politics, he also researches the relationship between culture and geopolitics, global media industries, theories of identity and modernity, and the political symbolism of the human body in the public sphere. Kraidy’s work is distinctive for its deep reliance on primary materials, theoretical grounding in a multilingual literature, and a comparative approach across historical periods, geographical sites, cultural forms, and media platforms. Kraidy has published 10 books, penned 120 essays and chapters, won 50 awards for teaching and scholarship, delivered keynote addresses and named lectures worldwide, and advised universities, civil society organizations, foundations, and governments.