ABSTRACT
What I was doing-this is something that I learned from Foucault-was producing things that become a box of utensils for other people to use. . . . The whole theoretical dimension is completely absent in Middle East studies. A historian would never think of turning to a Middle Eastern history journal to try and understand what general lessons might be. Why is there a conscious or unconscious consensus against theoretical work in Middle East studies? That could be political. It could be the formation of people. There could be more immediate stakes here: jobs, patronage, money.
