Medical Orientalism and the War on Terror: Depictions of Arabs and Muslims in the Psychodynamic Literature post-9/11
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: This paper surveys the psychodynamic literature on suicide bombers to demonstrate a publication bias against Arabs and Muslims.First, Edward Said's concept of orientalism is situated within medicine as a hermeneutic for cultural critique.Next, select texts are analyzed to show how discussions of suicide bombers often include questionable sociological assumptions about Arabs and Muslims.Finally, conclusions and solutions are offered regarding the values of current psychiatric knowledge.By interrogating psychodynamic writings for their truth claims, we can investigate how scientific literature aspires toward an objective universalism while embedded within a particular social, political moment.
Source: Journal of Muslim Mental Health
Author: Neil Krishan Aggarwal
Institution: Yale University
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2010885768