Marhaba! Lamma is a new, open-access journal for "Libyan Studies" published at @punctum_books. With our first issue on the way, we'd like to share a bit about our project of creating a new type of space for the study of Libya 1/
https://punctumbooks.com/imprints/lamma/ 

There have been several motivations for us: to bring together those doing academic research on Libya, to counter the policy and politics-heavy work that seems to be the only thing students can find about Libya, and to begin to fill in the gaps on Libya in so many subjects 2/

But maybe most importantly, to have Libyans, of all types, taking up important roles in knowledge production, especially in the West. (Just look at the leadership of most academic outlets for the MENA region) 3/

We're not the first to initiate a research publication on Libya, though. Our Libyan predecessors include well-known Arabic-language journals like the ⟨Journal of Historical Research⟩ مجلة البحوث التاريخية and others published by scholarly institutions in Libya itself 4/

and also ⟨The Journal of Libyan Studies⟩, founded about 20 years ago by a group of Libyans in the UK to counter what they saw as largely uncritical Western-centric research. Unfortunately they only published 7 issues before folding due to lack of contributions and funding 5/

There are 3 long-running Western journals dedicated to Libya: ⟨Libyan Studies⟩, ⟨Libya Antiqua⟩, and ⟨Quaderni di Archeologia della Libya⟩. They overwhelmingly focus on prehistoric/ancient/Greco-Roman archeology and are extremely expensive 6/

This means that "Libyan Studies" in the West is defined EITHER with reference to a distant, ancient past, OR limited to politics and policy (and the former regime), and that all this research isn't accessible to scholars and students in general (or in Libya) 7/

We concluded that any new platform had to be open-access, broadly modern/early modern, as multidisciplinary as possible, and encourage and center Libyan voices and perspectives 8/

But we also want to push boundaries and borders. For example, we don't want "Libyan Studies" to be defined solely in terms of the nation-state. We see Libya as part of numerous networks: African, Saharan, Islamic, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and many more 9/

We also don't see Lamma as a solely academic endeavor and want to work to overcome intellectual boundaries as well since in reality scholarly research, art, literature, and culture all overlap. In sum, we want to be flexible, broaden horizons, and try new things 10/

We're not trying to provide *the* platform, only one possible platform, and show that redefining, including, engaging, problematizing, and pluralizing will lead to something new, more open, more encouraging, and maybe more relevant. 11/

Finally, here's the cover of our first issue! (with art by the wonderful @tewa_barnosa) Stay tuned, and please share, engage, comment, and of course submit! #libyanstudies
https://punctumbooks.com/titles/lamma-a-journal-of-libyan-studies-1/