'Your Own Space and Time': Spatiality and Temporality in the Study of the International Organisations of the Middle East

Abstract

AbstractThe regional international organisations of the Middle East clearly work to different traditions than Western International Organisations (IOs) and are comprised of states which are known for their secrecy and hostility to critique. This is methodological challenge enough without taking into account the influences of temporal and spatial practices upon the functioning of these organisations. Using anthropological approaches to time and space an argument is advanced that putting temporal and spatial considerations at the heart of the study of these bodies impacts upon our conceptual, theoretical and methodological outlooks – generating richer, more nuanced insights. Thus, not only do time and space form an important research agenda in their own right but they also better inform existing theoretical understandings of IOs, particularly the historical and sociological institutionalist traditions. Drawing from direct experience with some of the key difficulties researchers face when engaging with these organisations, the article demonstrates the need for a reflexive and adaptive methodological engagement which can engage with the impacts of place and perceptions of time, examining these bodies less in comparison with the expectations scholars carry for IOs such as the UN and EU and more on their own terms, in their own situational and temporal contexts.