السياسات الاستعمارية وتحولات البنية الاجتماعية والاقتصادية في الوطن العربي (1920–1960): مراجعة نقدية مقارنة للأدبيات

Abstract

This article presents a comparative critical review of the academic literature addressing colonial policies and their impacts on the social and economic structures of the Arab world during the period 1920–1960. The review seeks to establish an analytical bridge between two research trajectories that have often remained separate: the literature on the Arab Mashreq, which has focused on the experiences of the British and French mandates in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Egypt, and the literature on the Arab Maghreb, which has examined the distinctive characteristics of French and Italian colonialism in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Libya. The study adopts a methodology that combines narrative, critical, and comparative review approaches and draws upon more than eighty sources in Arabic, English, and French. The review concludes that, despite its richness, the existing literature suffers from significant gaps, notably the scarcity of cross-regional comparative studies, the limited attention given to women's history, environmental dimensions, and oral history, as well as the predominance of nationalist approaches that have frequently overlooked nuanced local dynamics and interactions. The study proposes future research directions that move beyond traditional dichotomies toward more complex and comprehensive analytical frameworks