Reckoning with the Legacy of the Digital: Toward a Renewed Quest for Modernity in the Middle East

Abstract

Although the digital Middle East has received wide attention, there has been little engagement with the cultural roots of ongoing transformations. This article offers a critical analysis of the region’s technological journey over the past century, revealing how the pursuit of the digital aligns with a historical quest for modernity and aspirations for socioeconomic development. By examining the cultural origins and trajectory of the region’s engagement with technology, the article illuminates how the present is inextricably linked to the past through multiple temporalities. It contends that a mnemonic connection with modernization, as a culturally embedded concept, is essential for comprehending the unfolding digital turn and engaging with the region’s adoption of various technologies, including the digital. This article contributes to the expanding body of literature on the intersection of technology and society in the Middle East. It underscores the need for a nuanced understanding of the region’s intricate relationship with modernization and digitalization.