This paper offers an appraisal of the contribution of Dr Ali Al Wardi – one of the Middle East’s pioneers in sociology – to the foundation of Iraqi sociology. It opens with an introduction to sociology in Iraq past and present, followed by an assessment of the sociological approach of Al Wardi, his hypotheses including his theories on the ‘ambivalent personality’ exemplified in Iraq, which was later generalized to the Arab personality more broadly, and his sociological critiques. It was in these areas that Al Wardi became one of the leading liberal thinkers in the Arab world and his books continue to be bestsellers to this day. The paper will also posit the direct reasons for the success of his scientific contribution and the popularity of his premises and arguments. To achieve these objectives, it examines the most lasting aspects of his research, Al Wardi’s own published works and those written about his contribution, including books, papers and articles which either glorify or criticize, to help form a better understanding of Al Wardi’s contributions to Iraqi sociology.

Introduction

Iraqi sociology and Professor Ali Al Wardi are twins in the Iraqi intellectual scene. Indeed, he was essentially the founder of sociology in this country. His works, his approach to the study of society, and his hypotheses and generalizations on the Iraqi and Arab personality have become well known both inside the Arab world and beyond. Some of his books have been translated into different languages, including English, German, Spanish, Polish and Persian. This paper is divided into ten parts, starting with ‘Iraqi sociology: back to the foundations’, when Al Wardi played a key role, including establishing the first department of sociology in the country. The section on Al Wardi’s background uncovers connections between the circumstances surrounding his birth and how these influenced his research. One of the paper’s main topics is the concept of the ‘ambivalent personality’, which is one of Al Wardi’s hypotheses on the ‘Iraqi personality’, which was later generalized to the ‘Arab personality’ more broadly, and the heterogeneous social fabric of Iraqi society. To a certain extent, this paper also investigates Al Wardi’s methodology, his references, data collection, and the range of hypotheses which he continued to develop and test. The objective is also to identify reasons for the success of his scientific approach and the popularity of his premises and arguments, in the sociological criticism of society. Al Wardi became one of the leading liberal thinkers in the Arab world and his books continue to be bestsellers up to the present. This study is intended to contribute to the resources available to scholars interested in Iraqi and Arab sociology, culture and personality. Furthermore, it aims to shed light on the growing expansion of sociology as a (new) discipline in the developing countries.

Read full text here  Iraqi sociology and Al Wardi’s contributions

Keywords:

Sociology

Iraqi sociology

Ali Al Wardi

Iraqi and Arab ‘personality’

‘ambivalent personality’

Arab Sociology

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