Co-written with my wonderful colleague Kjetil Selvik at NUPI, who passed away in 2024. Published by Edinburgh University Press in February 2023. Buy
Academic interests
I do research on language, ideology, culture and society in the Arab Middle East and North Africa. Geographically, my research has focused on Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon and Tunisia.
Currently, I work on two projects. The first is about Arab perceptions of China in the pre-modern and modern periods. The second is a book project (in Norwegian) on the cultural history of the Arabic language.
Høigilt, Jacob
(2024).
Var Hasan al-Banna en konspirasjonsteoretiker? En analyse av Hasan al-Bannas epistler.
Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier.
ISSN 1503-5727.
doi: 10.5617/ba.11817.
Full text in Research ArchiveShow summary
Islamistisk ideologi blir ofte forbundet med konspirasjonsteorier, særlig om jøder. Finnes det spor av slik tankegang i tekstene til den moderne islamismens «far», Hasan al-Banna?
Høigilt, Jacob
(2024).
The Emergence of the Term “Conspiracy” in the Arabic Public Sphere.
Contributions to the History of Concepts.
ISSN 1807-9326.
19(1),
p. 66–87.
doi: 10.3167/choc.2024.190104.
Full text in Research Archive
Media systems where political parallelism co-exists with political clientelism have contradictory influences on journalistic practices. Journalists are encouraged to actively defend a cause and influence public opinion while expected to remain subservient to their political masters. The media studies literature has analyzed the impact of political parallelism and clientelism separately, without reflecting on the tensions that emerge when they operate together. The article examines journalism under instrumentalized political parallelism and argues that it plays out in a field defined by both horizontal and vertical conflicts. We add an elite-grassroots analytical perspective to the inter-elite tensions associated with a polarized public sphere. Political parallelism in non-democratic contexts seemingly leaves little room for journalistic agency, as the politically powerful tend to instrumentalize media outlets. However, by looking closely at the case of Lebanon, we argue that journalists are still able to act independently of and contrary to the elite’s intentions. The empirical analysis shows how journalists navigate vis-à-vis the politicians by playing the relations game, exploiting internal contradictions in the system and connecting with popular grievances. The article contributes new knowledge about journalists' resilience to instrumentalization in a context of media/politics connections that is commonly found outside the West.
A cluster of arrays “provid[ing] principles of order within the unstructured simultaneity of everyday-worlds”* in Egypt and Tunisia in 2016, forming part of the two countries’ “culture” during the In 2016 project’s target year. *H. U. Gumbrecht, In 1926: Living at the Edge of Time (1997), 443.
Voltmer, Katrin; Selvik, Kjetil & Høigilt, Jacob
(2021).
Hybrid media and hybrid politics: Contesting informational uncertainty in Lebanon and Tunisia.
The International Journal of Press/Politics.
ISSN 1940-1612.p. 1–19.
doi: 10.1177/1940161221999266.
Full text in Research ArchiveShow summary
This paper investigates the dynamic relationship between hybrid media and hybrid politics in Lebanon and Tunisia. While previous research on the media in hybrid regimes has mainly focused on regime strategies of restricting and manipulating public debate, our analysis moves beyond repression. We argue that the ambiguities of hybrid politics, which combines democratic and authoritarian elements, not only constrain independent and critical reporting but also open up opportunities for journalistic agencies. We draw on Schedler’s concept of informational uncertainty to capture the epistemological instability of hybrid regimes and the strategies of political actors to control public knowledge. Distinguishing between three dimensions of media hybridity - economic, cultural and technological - we show how the new hybrid media environment significantly increases the volatility of hybrid politics and informational uncertainty for political actors. Our empirical analysis is based on seventy-one semistructured interviews with journalists in Lebanon and Tunisia conducted between 2016 and 2019. The material reveals a broad range of strategies used by journalists who employ the internal contradictions of hybrid politics to pursue their own agenda. The comparison between Lebanon and Tunisia also highlights contextual conditions that enable, or limit, journalistic agency, such as clientelistic dependencies, economic resources, and civil society alliances.
Høigilt, Jacob & Selvik, Kjetil
(2020).
Debating terrorism in a political transition: Journalism and democracy in Tunisia.
International Communication Gazette.
ISSN 1748-0485.
82(7),
p. 664–681.
doi: 10.1177/1748048519897519.
Full text in Research ArchiveShow summary
In March 2015, in the midst of a political transition, Tunisia was rocked by a terrorist attack at the Bardo Museum in downtown Tunis in which 21 people were killed. How did Tunisian journalists manage the tension between a heightened sense of insecurity and the country’s uncertain democratic development? This article analyses journalistic commentary on the causes and implications of terrorism four years into the transition sparked by the Arab uprisings. It provides an empirically nuanced perspective on the role of journalism in political transitions, focusing on journalists as arbitrators in public debate. We argue that influential Tunisian journalists fell back on interpretive schema from the Ben Ali era when they tried to make sense of the Bardo attack, thus facilitating the authoritarian drift of the Tunisian government at the time. They actively contributed to the non-linearity of a political transition, despite enjoying real freedom of speech.
Høigilt, Jacob
(2019).
The futility of rights-based humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Disasters. The Journal of Disaster Studies, Policy and Management.
ISSN 0361-3666.
43(2),
p. S169–S186.
doi: 10.1111/disa.12334.
Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2018).
The Contemporary Politics of Written Arabic.
Brown Journal of World Affairs.
ISSN 1080-0786.
25(1),
p. 41–54.Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2018).
Jihadisme, islamisme og krigen mot nyanser.
In Andersson, Anna; Høgestø, Sofie Alexandra Engli & Lie, Anne Christine (Ed.),
Fremmedkrigere. Forebygging, straffeforfølgning og rehabilitering i Skandinavia.
Gyldendal Juridisk.
ISSN 9788205502659.p. 299–320.Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2018).
Borgernes stemme. Populærkultur, språk og politikk i den arabiske verden.
Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier.
ISSN 1503-5727.
16(2),
p. 106–119.
doi: 10.5617/ba.6731.
Full text in Research ArchiveShow summary
Folkelig kultur kan spille en viktig politisk rolle som et korrektiv til elitenes autoritære impulser. I Egypt inntok tegneserier for voksne og satirisk litteratur denne funksjonen i tiden før og under revolusjonen i 2011. Å forstå disse kulturproduktene er derfor nyttig når vi ønsker å forstå den kulturelle dynamikken bak revolusjonen.
Adult comics are a new medium in the Arab world. This article is the first in-depth study of their emergence and role within Arab societies. Focused on Egypt, it shows how adult comics have boldly addressed political and social questions. Seeing them as part of a broader cultural efflorescence in Egypt, I argue that, against patriarchal authoritarianism, adult comics have expressed an alternative ideology of tolerance, civic rights and duties, individualism, creativity, and criticism of power. Specifically, they present a damning critique of Egypt's authoritarian order, as well as of the marginalization of women and broader gender dynamics in Egyptian society. Through frank humor, a playful style, and explicit graphics, they give voice to the concerns of young Egyptians. Connecting comics to other art forms such as music, graffiti, and political cartoons, I situate them within a critical cultural movement that came to the fore with the Egyptian uprising of 2011.
Høigilt, Jacob
(2017).
Dialect with an Attitude: Language and Criticism in New Egyptian Print Media.
In Mejdell, Gunvor & Høigilt, Jacob (Ed.),
The Politics of Written Language in the Arab World. Writing Change..
De Gruyter Brill.
ISSN 9789004346161.p. 166–189.
doi: 10.1163/9789004346178_009.
Full text in Research Archive
Mejdell, Gunvor & Høigilt, Jacob
(2017).
Introduction.
In Mejdell, Gunvor & Høigilt, Jacob (Ed.),
The Politics of Written Language in the Arab World. Writing Change..
De Gruyter Brill.
ISSN 9789004346161.p. 1–18.Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2017).
Å balansere på en knivsegg: Mot sosialt sammenbrudd blant unge palestinere i Øst-Jerusalem.
Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier.
ISSN 1503-5727.
15(1),
p. 50–59.
doi: 10.5617/ba.4344.
Full text in Research ArchiveShow summary
Hvordan forklare den såkalte «knivintifadaen» i Israel og på Vestbredden høsten 2015 og våren 2016? En analyse av situasjonen for unge i Jerusalem gir svar.
Høigilt, Jacob
(2016).
Å balansere på en knivsegg : mot sosialt sammenbrudd blant unge palestinere i Øst-Jerusalem.
Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier.
ISSN 1503-5727.
14(2),
p. 50–59.
doi: 10.5617/ba.4344.
Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2016).
Islam og islamisme i konflikten mellom Israel og palestinere.
Religion og livssyn : Tidsskrift for religionslærerforeningen i Norge.
ISSN 0802-8214.
28(3),
p. 6–12.Full text in Research Archive
Bjorvatn, Kjetil & Høigilt, Jacob
(2016).
Youth and the Arab Revolutions.
In Selvik, Kjetil & Utvik, Bjørn Olav (Ed.),
Oil States in the New Middle East: Uprisings and stability.
Routledge.
ISSN 9781138888340.p. 39–56.Full text in Research Archive
Kindt, Kristian Takvam; Høigilt, Jacob & Kebede, Tewodros Aragie
(2016).
Writing change: Diglossia and popular writing practices in Egypt.
Arabica - Revue d'études arabes et islamiques.
ISSN 0570-5398.
63(3-4),
p. 324–376.
doi: 10.1163/15700585-12341405.
Full text in Research ArchiveShow summary
Arabic is considered a paradigmatic case of diglossia, where written language is regarded as largely the domain of fuṣḥā. Presenting the results of a large-scale survey of language attitudes and practices in Cairo, we argue that this view should be reconsidered. A representative majority of Cairo’s literate population in fact report writing predominantly in the vernacular (ʿāmmiyya), and also regard it as a legitimate written variety, contradicting common assumptions about popular language attitudes. At the same time, fuṣḥā retains its position as an idealized prestigious variety. These surprising results are explained by rising levels of literacy and the growth of computer-mediated communication. The results encourage a rethinking of the language situation in the Arab world, supporting the view that diglossia is a social and cultural resource rather than a problem.
Høigilt, Jacob
(2015).
Nonviolent mobilization between a rock and a hard place: Popular resistance and double repression in the West Bank.
Journal of Peace Research.
ISSN 0022-3433.
52(5),
p. 636–648.
doi: 10.1177/0022343315572497.
Full text in Research Archive
Nordenson, Jon & Høigilt, Jacob
(2014).
Tahrir-litteraturen.
Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier.
ISSN 1503-5727.
2014(1),
p. 92–100.Full text in Research ArchiveShow summary
Er det ikke for tidlig å gi ut bøker om de arabiske opprørene? Kanskje, og kvaliteten er varierende, men verdien av bøker skrevet før fasiten er klar er åpenbar.
Høigilt, Jacob & Nome, Frida Austvoll
(2014).
Egyptian salafism in revolution.
Journal of Islamic Studies.
ISSN 0955-2340.
25(1),
p. 33–54.
doi: 10.1093/jis/ett056.
Full text in Research Archive
Hizb al-Tahrir (the Liberation Party, henceforth HT) is a unique kind of islamist
organization. Compared with the two major islamist movements – Salafism and the Muslim
Brothers – it exhibits certain similarities with each one but is clearly different from both.
While most research to date has focused on HT in Europe and Central Asia, this article explores
the ideology and function of HT in the West Bank, where it was founded in 1953 and where its
leadership comes from today. By analysing Ht in the Palestinian context, it becomes apparent
how important ideology is for the party, as the Palestine question has no pride of place even in
the Palestinian branch of HT. Instead, it is the global aspiration of re-establishing the islamic
caliphate that is of paramount importance. This very focus on ideology has led the party into
relative obscurity in the Palestinian Islamist landscape, however. The analysis shows that a
full understanding of HT must take into consideration the local contexts in which it operates;
and that it is untenable on both ideological and practical grounds to lump different islamist
movements together in one shared category.
This article explains the current political role of the Palestinian youth by comparing the period shortly before the First and Second Intifadas with the current situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). It critically interrogates the oft-repeated assertion that the Palestinian youth are characterized by political anomie, showing that the political role of the youth in the OPT is constrained by three factors: Israeli occupation, oppression by Fatah and Hamas, and the political paralysis resulting from the split between these two dominant political organizations. However, the present youth activism challenges the policies of both Fatah and Hamas, and draws strength from its utilization of international cooperation and its popular practices. While it is still small, this youthful activism displays a determination, clear-headedness and independence that contrast with the political culture in the dominant factions of Palestinian politics.
Kverme, Kai Egon & Høigilt, Jacob
(2012).
Elsker, elsker ikke ... Libanon, Palestina og Syria.
Internasjonal Politikk.
ISSN 0020-577X.p. 520–528.Full text in Research Archive
Kverme, Kai Egon & Høigilt, Jacob
(2012).
Love, do not love... Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.
Internasjonal Politikk.
ISSN 0020-577X.
70(4),
p. 520–528.Full text in Research Archive
Bangstad, Sindre & Høigilt, Jacob
(2011).
Hvordan forstå Muslimbrødrene? Islamisme i den arabiske og europeiske konteksten.
Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift (NNT).
ISSN 0800-336X.
28(2),
p. 123–134.Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2011).
Håndlangere for Hamas? Islamske privatskolers rolle i de okkuperte palestinske områdene.
Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier.
ISSN 1503-5727.
doi: 10.5617/ba.4254.
Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2010).
Rhetoric and ideology in Egypt's Wasatiyya Movement.
Arabica - Revue d'études arabes et islamiques.
ISSN 0570-5398.
57,
p. 251–266.Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2008).
Systematic Functional Linguistics and Contemporary Islamic Rhetoric in Egypt.
In Ibrahim, Zeinab & Makhlouf, Sanaa (Ed.),
Linguistics in an Age of Globalization.
The American University in Cairo Press.
ISSN 9789774161490.p. 181–191.Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob & Selvik, Kjetil
(2008).
Hva er islamisme?
Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier.
ISSN 1503-5727.p. 8–20.Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2007).
Islamism, Pluralism and the Palestine Question: The Case of Hizbullah.
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.
ISSN 1353-0194.
34(2),
p. 123–136.
doi: 10.1080/13530190701427859.
Full text in Research Archive
Lebanon and Tunisia are two of the freest countries in the Middle East and North Africa, but elites in both countries seek to manipulate media organisations and individual journalists to shore up support for themselves and attack opponents. This book explores the political role of journalism in these hybrid settings where democratic and authoritarian practices coexist – a growing trend all over the world. Through interviews with journalists in different positions and analyses of key events in recent years, Journalism in the Grey Zone explains the tensions that media instrumentalisation creates in the news media and how journalists navigate conflicting pressures from powerholders and a marginalised populace. Despite ‘capture’ of the media by political and economic actors, journalism remains a powerful and occasionally disruptive force.
Høigilt, Jacob
(2020).
بلاغة الإسلاميين: اللغة والثقافة في مصر المعاصرة
(Oversatt av Mahmud Ahmad Abdallah).
Dar Azminah.
ISBN 9789957098216.329 p.Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2019).
Comics in Contemporary Arab Culture: Politics, Language and Resistance.
I.B. Tauris.
ISBN 9781784539856.248 p.Full text in Research Archive
Mejdell, Gunvor & Høigilt, Jacob
(2017).
The Politics of Written Language in the Arab World. Writing Change. De Gruyter Brill.
ISBN 9789004346161.308 p.Full text in Research Archive
Selvik, Kjetil & Høigilt, Jacob
(2023).
For Tunisia’s muzzled media, Arab Spring is now a distant memory.
The Conversation.
ISSN 2201-5639.Full text in Research Archive
As in many countries around the world, Lebanese elites control and manipulate the media to serve their own purposes. TV channels, newspapers and famous, individual journalists are regarded as speaking for this or that political leader, as pawns in the internal conflicts between the decision-makers. However, during the popular uprisings in 2019 many journalists and some media channels broke with this system and sided with the people against the politicians as a whole. In this lecture, we investigate why this happened and what it tells us about the relations between politics and media in the contemporary Middle East.
Høigilt, Jacob
(2021).
10-årsmarkering for den arabiske våren (Nyhetsettermiddag P2).
[Radio].
NRK P2.
Full text in Research Archive
Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora; Høigilt, Jacob & Liden, Kristoffer
(2019).
Humanitarian policy: How do we make it and what is it good for? Launch of IHSA Disasters Special Issue.
Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2013).
Failing Against the Odds: Palestinian youth activism in the West Bank.
Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob & Rosmer, Tilde
(2013).
Failing Against the Odds? Palestinian youth mobilization in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel.
Full text in Research Archive
Heggen, Øystein & Høigilt, Jacob
(2013).
Israel løslater 26 palestinske fanger.
[Radio].
NRK P2 nyhetsmorgen.
Full text in Research Archive
Two linguistic theories, Systemic Functional Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis, are presented and employed to throw light on some of the rhetorical structures that are used in contemporary Islamic rhetoric in Egypt. The text under analysis is taken from the works of the well-known Islamic thinker Muhammad Imara.
Høigilt, Jacob
(2006).
Occidentalism.
Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier.
ISSN 1503-5727.
4(1).
Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2006).
Cooperating or Guiding? The Languages of Islamic Revival in Contemporary Egypt.
Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2005).
Venner av Amerika.
Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier.
ISSN 1503-5727.
3(1),
p. 56–64.Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2004).
Islamsk teologi som ideologisk slagmark.
Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier.
ISSN 1503-5727.
2(1),
p. 138–147.Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2003).
For en europeisering av islamismen.
Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift (NNT).
ISSN 0800-336X.Full text in Research Archive
Høigilt, Jacob
(2003).
Det avgjørende demokratiet.
Babylon - Nordisk tidsskrift for Midtøstenstudier.
ISSN 1503-5727.
1(1),
p. 6–14.Full text in Research Archive
Kindt, Kristian Takvam; Kebede, Tewodros Aragie & Høigilt, Jacob
(2013).
Language Change in Egypt: Social and Cultural Indicators Survey: A Tabulation Report.
Fafo.
Full text in Research Archive
Tiltnes, Åge Arild; Christophersen, Mona & Høigilt, Jacob
(2012).
Palestinian Youth and the Arab Spring.
Fafo.
ISSN 9788274228665.Full text in Research Archive
This thesis is a text-linguistic study of the rhetoric of three central Islamist figures in Egypt today: Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Amr Khalid and Muhammad Ammara. Its aim is to investigate the connection between Islamist rhetoric and the current structure of the Islamic field in Egypt.
The figures studied occupy very different positions in the Islamic field, representing three different groups of agents: Islamic scholars, charismatic lay preachers and lay Islamic intellectuals. These groups all contribute in different ways to making Islamism the dominant order of discourse in Egyptian debates about culture and religion.
Grounded in Systemic Functional Grammar, the thesis explores three linguistic areas in detail: Pronoun use, Mood choices and configurations of processes and participants. The thesis asks how the writers relate to their readers and how they construe concepts that are central in the current Islamic revival, such as ‘Islamic thought’, ‘Muslims’, and ‘the West’.
The main result of the investigation is that centrist Islamism in Egypt is more diversified in terms of its sociology and ideology than is usually reckoned with. Specifically, great differences obtain between the Islamists' attitudes to religious authority and the secular 'other'. Furthermore, similar rhetorical differences are found among secular liberals, so the thesis introduces an alternative divide in Egyptian public debate: between text cultures rather than ideologies.
The significance of the thesis is both practical and theoretical. On the practical level, it argues for a more nuanced understanding of contemporary non-violent Islamism. On the theoretical level, it adds to the slowly growing body of Arabic discourse analysis by employing Functional Grammar to study the links between language and society in the Arab world.
It is a common claim that Islamist movements are disinclined to accept religious and political pluralism. This thesis questions that claim, on the basis of an analysis of the discourse of Hizbullah in Lebanon. Lebanon is a consociational democracy with many religious communities, where the political game is structured in terms of sectarian belonging. At the same time, long-lasting French influence and Lebanon's history have made important segments of society rather secular and liberal. In addition, the 16-year long civil war and the Israeli invasion devastated the country and created strong sectarian tension. Since 1992, however, great efforts have been made by many groups to rebuild the country and ensure that Lebanon becomes a viable nation-state for all its citizens, regardless of sectarian belonging.
The theoretical and analytical framework for the thesis is based in the humanities. Critical Discourse Analysis as developed by Norman Fairclough provides the methodological basis, but I also draw on political and social science. The issues that Hizbullah addresses and the vocabulary it uses is analysed and compared to see what its attitudes to pluralism were in 1985 and what they are today. This is accompanied by an outline of the social, political and economic situations in 1985 and 2002, since these are assumed to be of great importance for Hizbullah s attitudes. The analysis shows that on the whole, it can assertively be said that Hizbullah does not represent a serious impediment to the evolution of pluralism in Lebanon. In fact, it encourages some political reforms that would speed up the process, the most important being an abolishment of sectarianism and an introduction of the numerical democracy, which is the common Western European way of ordering politics. A comparative analysis of written discourse as found in Hizbullah s Open Letter to the Oppressed, (published in 1985 and widely regarded as the party s manifesto), its electoral program from 2000, and a number of Lebanese newspapers shows that Hizbullah s discourse has changed to become much more liberal and tolerant now than it was in 1985. The party currently focuses on unity, dialogue and progressive political reform whereas the dominant notions in 1985 were conflict, ideological clash and an obsession with communal-religious identity and belonging. However, the party behaves differently on the national and regional scenes, and on the latter, its attitude to Israel and to some extent USA represents a serious difficulty. Hizbullah dehumanises Israelis and does not grant them any legitimacy whatsoever. What is more, this attitude has repercussions within Lebanon, since the party refuses to debate with other Lebanese its involvement in the Palestinian intifada and its continued resistance on a disputed piece of land in Southern Lebanon. All in all, the analysis suggests the potential, at least in ShÐÝÐ Islamism, for using a religious ideology to formulate modern and pluralist political views, despite the totalitarianism and intolerance that were so prominent at the outset. At the same time, however, the tragic conflict in the Middle East sustains the most important shortcoming in Hizbullah s pluralism: the dehumanising of Israelis on the regional level, and the unwillingness to debate the resistance against the Israeli state with Lebanese sceptics on the national level.
