Baghdad college and the geopolitics of desire: the Jesuit presence and Al-Futuwa nationalists

• Published in: Middle Eastern studies Vol. 53; no. 2; pp. 198 - 210
• Main Author: Abdul-Jabbar, Wisam Kh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 01.03.2017; Taylor & Francis, Ltd; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: 20th century; Appropriation; Colleges & universities; Geopolitics; Hegemony; Jesuits; Narratives; Nationalism; Religion & politics; Religious orders; Representation; Schools; Iraq
• ISSN: 0026-3206; 1743-7881
• DOI: 10.1080/00263206.2016.1214581

By exploring the hegemonic implications of the Jesuits' presence in Iraq, this paper examines the geopolitics of desire and cultural dominance that schools may exercise as a representation of institutional power. The Jesuit endeavour in Iraq, including the formation of Baghdad College in the 1930s, is often romanticized and popularized as a true civilizing mission. Baghdad College is often treated as a fetishized commodity that needs to be de-romanticized if it is to be better understood in light of the historical and educational milieu of the time. In what ways can Baghdad College, for instance, be considered a representation of what Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin refer to as 'the locus classicus of [the] hegemonic process of control'? (2000, p. 63). This paper also argues that the Arab nationalistic movement of Al-Futuwa, which was gaining ground in the first half of the twentieth century, played a crucial role in subverting the hegemonic apparatus exercised by Baghdad College through the use of English and the appropriation of certain worldviews and narratives.