Salam Hawa
A political theorist, Salam led a varied career: as a professor of political theory, and as policy strategist who used theory to develop public policy. Salam's experience of migration - her family migrated to Canada during the Lebanese civil war - focused her interest on how politics, religion and historical narratives determine one's political identity. Her work examines the impact that such narratives have on identity in both Western and Arab societies.
Biography
Salam Hawa is an independent scholar, who completed her graduate and post-graduate studies in Canada, UK, and France specialising in political theory, and politics of development in the Middle East. She was Assistant Professor in political theory at the University of Ottawa, and later took the challenge of helping develop strategic policy in various departments with the Government of Canada, and is currently Research Affiliate of the Arab Canadian Studies Research Group (ACAN), University of Ottawa.Salam was deeply influenced by the works of the classic greats such as Plato, Aristotle, and Hegel, and refers to French post-structuralists such as Foucault, Lyotard, Baudrillard, and Derrida to analyze modern political identity. Salam seeks to illustrate that theory is essential to understanding the zeitgeist of our times.
Education
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PhD, Political Theory, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
DEA, ME and Religion, Université d'Aix-Marseille, France
MPHIL, Political Theory, University of Cambridge, UK
Masters, Political Theory, University of Ottawa, Canada
Honours, Politics, University of Ottawa, Canada
BA, Economics, University of Ottawa, Canada
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
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Social & Political Thought, German Idealism, Continental Post-structuralism, Renaissance Political Theory, Globalization, Comparative Studies, European Union, Governance, Refugee Resettlement and Public Policy, Early and Modern Arab Studies
Personal Interests
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Travel, art, dance, music, and Yoga are activities that I enjoy immensely and try my best to practice as often as possible. I am tremendously interested in the future of our youth, and try my best to contribute to helping them develop skills they will certainly need in what seems to be a rapidly changing world.
Books
Articles
Through the Eye of the Other
Published: Jun 06, 2014 by Arab Studies Quarterly, 36.3 201-219
Authors: Salam Hawa
This article seeks to apply Derrida's deconstruction of elements constituting national identity as established under colonial power to the study of Bassam Tibi, Fouad Ajami, and Bernard Lewis' work on Arab identity. This approach allows the emergence of colonial and neo-colonial elements underlying these authors' understanding of what Edward Said identified as the " Arab condition. "
Globalized Islam: Arab Identity Sous Rature
Published: Jun 06, 2006 by Globalization and Autonomy, Online Compendium
Authors: Salam Hawa
Subjects:
History, Middle East Studies
This article provides philosophical reflections on the evolution of Arab political identity, and notes that little work has been done on the complex relationships that exist among culture, religion, language, and identity in the Arab world. Dr. Hawa argues that Arabic political identity tends, over time, to become subsumed by the global religious identity of the ummah.
Language as Freedom in Sartre's Philosophy
Published: Aug 06, 1999 by The Paideia Project: Proceedings of Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy
Authors: Salam Hawa
Subjects:
Language Disorders, Philosophy, Social Psychology
This article argues that Sartre posits language as a medium of communication that is capable of safeguarding the development of subjectivity and freedom.