Popular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa, Essay Example

Popular culture acted as the people’s voice in addressing the influence of governance, inequality, security of the people, climate changes, and the participation of citizens. A good example of how culture affects the area is that the Arab spring experienced led to political dynamics and grievances that shared some common forms of governance mistakes (Monier, 2014). There were also RU political rap songs that were being used to serve more of resistance than passing the message of political interest. Political and economic power is more concentrated on the elites, and the law’s rule was a serious issue.

Popular culture in MENA acted as a way of disseminating ideas/ projects and also creating some identity and belonging in the past decade. The culture is used primarily in the opposition of the ruling communities together with the rival political groups. A good example is Tunisia at the rule of Bourguiba, and the Islam movements were strong, making the leftists lose some of the influence they had. Songs from the leftists were aimed at raising awareness of the negative impact of Islam leaders. The cultural songs acted as a monopoly state of the community and contributed to the uprising of 2010-2011.

Popular culture also acted as a way of addressing the inequalities experienced in the community. Headlines of the MENA region have been dominated by conflicts, cases of migration, and also, in some instances, radicalization of areas (Swedenburg, 2013). The forms of inequality spark social mobility cases that impact the community and regional stability. In the coming years, the MENA government must do so much to address the issues of political, economic, and social needs of all people.

References

El Hamamsy, W., & Soliman, M. (Eds.). (2013). Popular culture in the Middle East and North Africa: A postcolonial outlook. Routledge.

Monier, E. I. (2014). Popular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa: A Postcolonial Outlook. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2013.840077

Swedenburg, T. (2013). Palestinian Rap: Against the Struggle Paradigm: Ted Swedenburg. In Popular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 27-42). Routledge.