UNESCO Chair at the University of Kufa Addresses Identity Dispossession in the Postcolonial Era

Dr. Raed Abees, Assistant Professor and a member of the UNESCO Chair for Interreligious Dialogue at the University of Kufa, participated in a seminar organized by Al-Ma’wa Center for Studies and Media under the title “A New Beginning for Postcolonial Studies: A Renewed Review.” The seminar was held in Baghdad on Friday and Saturday, 2–3October2026.During the seminar, Dr. Abees contributed to the preparation of a research paper entitled “Identity Dispossession and Reconstruction: Postcolonial Implications.” The paper constitutes a foundational contribution to the establishment of a Unit for Postcolonial Anthropology Studies of the Islamic World.
The paper examined the complex question of Arab and Islamic identity in the context of the international and domestic challenges that have confronted and continue to confront it. It also explored processes of identity dispossession resulting from domestic policies, with particular attention to the experiences of the Kurds, Faili Kurds, and Shabak under the former regime, which represent significant examples of local experiences of identity dispossession and the restructuring of collective identities.
The research further addressed external challenges that have contested and reshaped the concept of identity through issues relating to borders, citizenship, and belonging, as well as the ways in which individuals and communities have responded to these transformations within the broader frameworks of the Ummah, the nation, religious and Sectarian identity.