Elshayyal, Khadijah. Muslim Identity Politics: Islam, Activism and Equality in Britain. London: I. B. Tauris, 2018.

Book review

Middle East Research Institute. United Arab Emirates Meri Report. Milton Park: Routledge Revivals, 2015.

Book review

Rowe, P. S. (Ed.). Routledge Handbook of Minorities in the Middle East. London and New York: Routledge, 2019.

Book review

'Dubai is a transit lounge': migration, belonging and national identity in Pakistani professionals in the UAE

The thesis is a study of migration and its links to belonging, class, national identity and recognition in United Arab Emirates (UAE) federation. It focuses on Pakistani migrants, especially Pakistani professionals in Dubai, which is the second largest Emirate of the UAE because of its territorial extension and economic production (Davidson, 2008a). It is not only an empirical study but also partly a conceptual and analytical treatise on migration in the GCC countries. By comparing the extant literature on migration in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the findings of my own field research, I argue the need to move beyond concepts such as belonging despite exclusion (Vora, 2013), citizenship as belonging (Vora & Kock, 2015) and nationalism for nationals (Kock, 2015), which have dominated the literature on migration in this region, to better grasp that belonging, class and national identity are contested and situational. Dubai as a transit lounge is an expression used by one of my Pakistani participants to describe the dynamic nature of the city. But more than that, it was used to emphasize that foreign workers life in the emirate is characterized by temporariness. The UAE authorities have categorized people through the citizenship law (no. 17, 1972) in Emiratis and non-Emiratis by conceiving of them as two distinct categories. In my view, this might be interpreted as a fracture between two groups of individuals. In particular, non-Emiratis have been considered and represented in the literature as a monolithic group (Mahdavi, 2011), as disempowered individuals and, especially low-wage migrants, as victims of the market economy over which they cannot wield any control (Kathiravelu, 2016). The extant literature on migration in the GCC countries has portrayed the image of foreign communities in which the role of human agency in the migration experience is underestimated. Starting from the historical evolution of migration in the Arab Gulf region and the links with African and Asian countries, which have contributed towards shaping the ethnic diversity of the UAE and the GCC countries, my research focuses on the presence of Pakistani migrant professionals in Dubai in order to understand the development of migration in the Emirate; the role and importance of the Pakistan Association Dubai (PAD) in contributing towards determining belonging; and therefore how migration affects the Emirati national identity. This thesis challenges the extant literature on migration in the Arab Gulf region by questioning the dichotomy between nationals and non-nationals as two reciprocally-exclusive categories. Instead, it argues the need to look at inter and intra dynamics that take place in the field between the two groups in order to understand how their relations are constructed. It is thus important to consider social interactions between nationals and non-nationals because individuals occupy contradictory and multi-layered locations, spaces and social categories (Yuval-Davis, 2011; Anthias, 2015). This reasoning stems from my historical analysis of ethnic composition and social stratification in the Gulf port cities, especially Dubai, where the coexistence of different ethnic groups resulted from economic exchanges and intermarriages with people coming from African and Asian countries, which in turn contributed towards shaping the ethnic diversity of the region. For example, the construction of belonging cannot be grasped only by looking at non-nationals as an isolated category (Koch, 2015) but it has to be analysed and discussed in relation to others . As such, it is important to consider the role played by migrants and their ethno-national migrant associations in forging the discourse on the Emirati national identity. Migrants, through civic engagement and their participation in the Emirati public sphere, contribute towards strengthening Emirati national identity via their sense of belonging to the country and their agential capacity (e. g. migrant organizations)

Mitochondrial DNA Variations in Tumors: Drivers or Passengers?

Mitochondrial DNA alterations, including point mutations, deletions, inversions and copy number variations, have been widely reported in many age-related degenerative diseases and tumors. However, numerous studies investigating their pathogenic role in cancer have provided inconsistent evidence. Furthermore, biological impacts of mitochondrial DNA variants vary tremendously, depending on the proportion of mutant DNA molecules carried by the neoplastic cells (the so-called heteroplasmy). The recent discovery of inter-genomic crosstalk between nucleus and mitochondria has reinforced the role of mitochondrial DNA variants in perturbing this essential signaling pathway and thus indirectly targeting nuclear genes involved in tumorigenic and invasive phenotype. Therefore, mitochondrial dysfunction is currently considered a crucial hallmark of carcinogenesis as well as a promising target for anticancer therapy. This chapter describes the role of different types of mitochondrial DNA alterations by mainly considering the paradigmatic model of colorectal carcinogenesis and, in particular, it revisits the issue of whether mitochondrial mutations are causative cancer drivers or simply genuine passenger events. The advent of high-throughput next-generation sequencing techniques, as well as the development of genetic and pharmaceutical interventions for the treatment of mitochondrial dysfunction in cancer, are also discussed

Alternative fining of Sangiovese wine: effect on phenolic substances and sensory characteristics

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What is Zoroastrian Esotericism? Towards an Ontological Approach

Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, different interpretations of Zoroastrianism began to emerge among the Parsis of India. Some of these interpretations were based on ideas that Parsis defined as “esoteric.” This article examines the participation of Parsis in Freemasonry, the Theosophical Society, and Ilme Kṣnum (“Science of Bliss”) in modern India. The analysis of primary and secondary sources, combined with the examination of ethnographic data, leads to a definition of “Parsi esotericism” as a heuristic category. This proposal is in discontinuity with the deductive approach that has characterised the study of esotericism in Zoroastrianism and has been largely inspired by a Western conceptualisation of esotericism

The ‘Local Turn’ and Everyday Integration: The Pakistani Middle-Class Migrants in Dubai

Integration refers to socio-economic and cultural incorporation of migrants into a host society, which should adopt measures to encourage their adaptation by taking over its norms and customs. Recently, the ‘local turn’ has entailed studying migration and integration in cities. In this paper, I engage with the Pakistani middle-class migrants’ lives in Dubai. It emerges that they feel integrated in their everyday life by sharing practices and experiences in a multicultural environment. Integration is conceptualized from a bottom-up approach meaning that it moves beyond the state intervention to focus on how people perceive and experience integration in their everyday life

Beyond the Theosophical Paradigm: Ilme kṣnum and the Entangled History of Modern Parsis

In the early twentieth century, an esoteric interpretation of Zoroastrianism known as Ilme kṣnum became popular among the Parsis of India. Although research on the subject is scant, most scholars suggest that Ilme kṣnum draws largely upon the ideas promoted by the Theosophical Society in India. By examining primary sources in Gujarati, the present article illustrates the interpretation of the Zoroastrian cosmology proposed by Ilme kṣnum. Through a comparative analysis of its main concepts and terms, Ilme kṣnum is historicized in the context of the relations of the Parsi community with the Persianate and Western worlds. By framing Ilme kṣnum as a reconciliation between Persianate and Western forms of knowledge, the present article looks at historical entanglements as resources for the Parsi quest for religious authenticity, placing Zoroastrianism in global religious history