Musa al-Gharbi is an American sociologist. He is an assistant professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University. He was the communications director of Heterodox Academy from 2016 to 2020.[2]
Musa al-Gharbi | |
|---|---|
 al-Gharbi in 2022 | |
| Occupation | Assistant professor of sociology |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Cochise Community College (AA; 2009) University of Arizona (BA; 2012) (MA; 2013) Columbia University (MA; 2017) (PhD; 2023)[1] |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Sociologist |
| Institutions | Stony Brook University |
Early life and education
editAl-Gharbi grew up in southern Arizona in a military family. He had a twin brother who in 2010 was killed in Afghanistan.[3]
Al-Gharbi received an associate degree from Cochise Community College, then going on to receive a bachelor's degree in Near Eastern studies and a MA in philosophy at the University of Arizona.[4] He graduated from Columbia University, earning a PhD in sociology in 2023.[4]
Career
editTruthout article
editIn 2014, while teaching at the University of Arizona, al-Gharbi became a target of right-wing backlash after Fox News highlighted a Truthout article he wrote criticizing American policy in the Middle East.[2][5]
It would not be a stretch to say that the United States is actually a greater threat to peace and stability in the region than ISIS – not least because US policies in Iraq, Libya and Syria have largely paved the way for ISIS’s emergence as a major regional actor.
— Musa al-Gharbi, "How Much Moral High Ground Does the US Have Over ISIS?"[6]
Numerous death threats were sent to the University of Arizona.[2] Following the controversy, he was fired from his teaching position and denied entry into PhD programs at the University of Arizona.[3]
Stony Brook University and We Have Never Been Woke
editIn 2023, he became an assistant professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University.[7]
In 2021, his book We Have Never Been Woke: Social Justice Discourse, Inequality, and the Rise of a New Elite, was acquired by Princeton University Press.[8] We Have Never Been Woke was published in 2024.[9] Al-Gharbi argues in the book that the contemporary “woke” movement had not begun during the mid 2010s matriculation of Generation Z into college, but in 2011 during a surge in media discussions of various forms of prejudice and discrimination.[10] He argues that contemporary American society is dominated by a class he calls "symbolic capitalists", a group composed of academics, journalists, bureaucrats, consultants, and other “professionals who traffic in symbols and rhetoric, images and narratives, data and analysis.” In order to amass social currency, the class supports social justice movements and the plight of the oppressed, but the primary goal is their own personal advancement.[11]
Views
editSince the election of Donald Trump in 2016, al-Gharbi has argued that mainstream liberal news outlets including the The New York Times opinion page and MSNBC have mischaracterized his supporters.[2]
Personal life
editBefore attending college, al-Gharbi planned to become a Catholic priest. He later became an atheist and then converted to Islam.[3]
Al-Gharbi is married to a woman from Lebanon.[12]
Selected works
editBooks
edit- al-Gharbi, Musa (2024). We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691232607.
Articles
edit- al-Gharbi, Musa (2018-04-14). "Race and the Race for the White House: On Social Research in the Age of Trump". The American Sociologist. 49 (4): 496–519. doi:10.1007/s12108-018-9373-5 – via Springer Link.
- Smith, Benjamin K.; Stohl, Michael; al-Gharbi, Musa (2019). "Discourses on countering violent extremism: the strategic interplay between fear and security after 9/11". Critical Studies on Terrorism. 12 (1): 151–168. doi:10.1080/17539153.2018.1494793 – via Taylor & Francis.
- Rozado, David; al-Gharbi, Musa; Halberstadt, Jamin (February 2023). "Prevalence of Prejudice-Denoting Words in News Media Discourse: A Chronological Analysis". Social Science Computer Review. 41 (1) (published 2021-07-27): 99–122. doi:10.1177/08944393211031452 – via Sage Publishing.
References
edit- ^ al-Gharbi, Musa. "Musa al-Gharbi Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Stony Brook University. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d Moench, B. Duncan (2021-05-03). "Is Musa Al-Gharbi the Last Academic Who Can Tell the Truth?". Tablet Magazine.
- ^ a b c Gutkin, Len (2021-06-30). "'The Culture-War Stuff Just Rots the Brain'". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
- ^ a b "Musa al-Gharbi to Deliver Annual Loeschner Lecture". Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy. 2024-09-24.
- ^ "Arizona instructor claims U.S. military 'greater threat' to peace than ISIS". Fox News. 2014-11-22 [2015-11-04]. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ al-Gharbi, Musa (2014-10-13). "How Much Moral High Ground Does the US Have Over ISIS?". Truthout. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ "Al-Gharbi to Join SoCJ as Assistant Professor of Communication and Journalism". Stony Brook University. 2023-01-12.
- ^ "PUP acquires Musa al‑Gharbi's We Have Never Been Woke". Princeton University Press. Princeton University. 2021-05-01.
- ^ Szetela, Adam (2024-10-11). "Finally, a fresh argument against 'wokeness'". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
- ^ Marks, Jonathan (2024-10-15). "'We Have Never Been Woke' Review: A Symbolic Ideology". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
- ^ "We Have Never Been Deplorable". 8 October 2024.
- ^ "Musa al-Gharbi on Elite Wokeness, Islam, and Social Movements (Ep. 224)". 7 July 2018.