A Statement from the Chair of the UCI Department of Anthropology
in Memory of Tarek Moustafa Mohamed
Earlier this month, the UCI Department of Anthropology lost a cherished member of
its community. Tarek Moustafa Mohamed, a doctoral candidate in our program, passed
away unexpectedly at their home in Ciaro, Egypt, where they had been living for the
past year while they were undertaking research and writing related to their dissertation
thesis. We join the wide community of scholars, advocates, friends, and family in
grieving this tragic loss.
Tarek’s emergent scholarly voice was a singular one. Their expansive and innovative
research project was centered on fieldwork with Egyptian LGBTIQ community organizers,
activists, intellectuals, and artists. Their work stood at the intersection of queer
anthropology, political anthropology, the anthropology of religion, the anthropology
of diaspora, and Middle East Studies. A constant emphasis for Tarek was linking these
scholarly conversations to questions of violence and trauma, but also accountability,
justice, and healing. Tarek fundamentally sought to link ethnographic and historical
methods, particularly in the analysis of colonialism as it has shaped forms of state
oppression that emerged with the postcolonial Egyptian state. With regard to these
intersections of history, culture, and power, Tarek was particularly interested in
the legacy of the “Arab Spring” and how the repression of that movement shapes contemporary
homophobia and transphobia in Egypt.
Tarek was part of a cohort of activist-scholars in Middle East Studies who, based
on the empirical reality of everyday lifeworlds and forms of selfhood, rejected the
idea that Egyptians who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, or otherwise queer
are inauthentic victims of some global gay movement. While highly attentive to the
role of Western colonialism and hegemony, Tarek sought to explore how those forms
of power are articulated through the Egyptian state as elements of its ideology and
violence. Furthermore, Tarek’s interest in globalization foregrounded the migration
of bodies as well as culture. Drawing on frameworks of “exodus” that have longstanding
valence in Egypt, Tarek sought to link Egyptian LGBTIQ activists in Egypt, in diaspora,
in exile, in return, and in new places of home. As Tarek put it, “exodus has always
been a moment of rebirth or genesis.” In other words, in Tarek’s analysis it is not
genesis that always proceeds exodus: movement itself, even under conditions of unequal
power and marginalization, can be the source of new subjectivities, communities, and
politics.
We can only imagine where Tarek’s research would have taken anthropology and the multiple
other disciplines to which their work would have contributed. What we can know is
that it would have proceeded from brilliant insight, intellectual generosity, and
an insistence on the mutual constitution of activism and theory in the forging of
new futures. As Tarek put it, “queer theory is the hope that the world needs at the
moment. This is the main argument that I am making.”
I speak on behalf of UCI Anthropology in extending our deepest condolences to Tarek's
friends, family, and everyone in their close community (in Egypt, the US, and around
the globe), with whom we grieve over the loss that comes with Tarek's passing. In
my roles as both Graduate Director and now Chair, I routinely heard from graduate
students in our program who would tell me about the counsel they received from Tarek,
the gratitude they felt for their warm embrace and thoughtful guidance, and how much
they counted Tarek as one of the bright lights of our program. To think that we will
no longer have the benefit of their perspective and empathy is so very sad, not just
for those who knew Tarek well, but equally for those who didn't, and will now not
get the chance. I have to admit I count myself among those who didn't know Tarek well,
but of what I did know and observe, Tarek appeared a fearless advocate for kindness
and decency, not of the facile variety, that avoided hard conversations in the name
of keeping the peace, but rather someone who embraced the complexity of human relations
as the grist for making lasting connections based on dignity, respect, and really
seeing each other. In this respect, and like so much of the best anthropological research,
Tarek’s scholarly commitments echoed the best aspects of how Tarek carried themselves
in the world generally. Both displayed a rare twinning of courage and compassion,
intellectual acuity and energetic empathy, in a manner that was unique to Tarek. They
will be sorely missed.
Justin B. Richland
Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology
University of California, Irvine