UAE Neighborhoods, Fetishization, & Gendered Middle Class Memories

I’ve been thinking about the distinction between valuing and advocating for lower and middle class residents and fetishizing their spaces, objects, & ways of living in the UAE — especially Dubai neighborhoods.

Turning your nose up at exclusionary spaces, like malls, I understand. Writing them off entirely by calling them soulless (read Rana AlMutawa’s work on authenticity), however, isn’t productive. At the same time, going to Deira and enjoying the lack of pretense is one thing, but going there to soak up or capture…