Rethinking post-Ottoman space through the ordinary: garages, hotels and cafés between Syria and Iraq, 1920s–1930s

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the reconfiguration of post-Ottoman space in the Mashriq during the interwar period. It does so by delving into ordinary places, actors and practices, particularly garages, hotels, petrol stations and cafés along the trans-desert routes connecting Syria and Iraq. By investigating the interactions between stationary workers and mobile individuals in these settings, it presents a decentred and bottom-up perspective on how space was experienced, contested and reshaped in the region. Drawing from a diverse range of sources, the article explores how ordinary actors sought to reclaim and shape space for their own purposes, highlighting their potential and actual roles in the reconfiguration of post-Ottoman space. On the one hand, it reveals that their economic activities were marginalised by the dominant agenda to restructure space for capitalist and imperialist interests through automotive technology. On the other, it demonstrates that ordinary actors played a substantial role in the formation of lived spaces spanning Syria and Iraq, as well as in reshaping the fabric, economy and meaning of places within these regions.