University Professor Uncovers Social History of Gaza in New Book
On July 2018, Abaher El Sakka, the associate professor of social and behavioral sciences at Birzeit University, launched a new book: The Social History of Gaza under the British Mandate 1917-1948. The book is a culmination of groundbreaking research study that sought to present a new sociological reading to Gaza’s social history; its population and socio-economic and political structures.
The book is the seventh among the Palestinian Cities Series published by the Institute for Palestine Studies. It presents the social history of the city through tracking the modernization and urbanization processes of the city, tackling the complicated ties between its people, the impact of the colonization policies, and how these two factors affected the modernization process, space management and the structure of architecture, infrastructure and services.
In the Social History of Gaza, El Sakka catalogs the changes in type of services provided to the cities whilst the social, economic, social and urban changes that occurred in the city, such as water, lighting, architecture, transportation…etc. The researcher details the daily-life activities, and dives into the culture, the social life, and the consumption patterns of the city.
Abaher EL-SAKKA, a Palestinian sociologist. He is currently affiliated to the Department of Department of Social and Behavioral Science, Birzeit University. He holds a Master DEA (Master Degree, Sociology, University of Nantes, France in 1997. He has a PhD in Sociology, University of Nantes with distinction in 2005. He was a Researcher and lecturer at the University of Nantes from 1998 to 2006 and is currently a professor at Birzeit University at the department of social and behavioral sciences. He is also visiting professor at several universities in France and Belgium. He was involved in several research centers, including the “Institut français du Proche-Orient”. His current research interest focuses on the social history and the historiography of the social sciences. His various research interests focus on studies on Artistic modes of expressions, artistic expressive social forms, social and collective memory, social identity and protest movements; nationalism; social policies; social mobility and political practices.
