Observing the Invisible

Qatar is a rapidly developing country; where day by day we notice a change in our surroundings. By the year 2011, 1,271,000 foreigners have been recruited in Qatar and 75%of these foreigners are unskilled labor workers. Due to this high percentage of workers, as a global society, we tend to neglect these workers and walk by them as if they are invisible. It has became a usual scene, to drive by a group of workers standing in line for the bus under the sun’s heat, to drink from a cold bottle of water when they drink out of an overused 7up bottle and no longer safe to drink from, to look out of our bedroom window while laying down and watching them sleep behind the wall. Because of the social conflict, we never stopped to think about their feelings, their families, or their problems.


During my junior year at VCUQ, one of our projects for print class relates to creating a “survival kit” for workers, we were put in teams to develop a product that would facilitate the workers. To accomplish this project, we went to tailors, gardeners, and waiters, we asked them a few questions to learn about their concerns and problems and to find a solution that would help them feel more comfortable in Qatar. The results from our interview led us to find out about the average salary and the places they spend their time on their weekends, which is for most of them, the corniche and the souq.

As a group of three, we cannot change the society’s perspective but we can open up opportunities for the workers to explore Qatar, we can teach them how to deal with the society. We looked at the workers as individuals who are willing to blend in with the society but the perception they have of locals pushes them backwards. Therefore, as a design solution, we used the visual language of the Indian culture which include the colors and illustrations. This would help them accept and trust the context because they would relate to it.

Our final package “fun weekend” is a wallet which consists of a Karwa map (which we further developed) to help them explore new areas in Qatar. The map also includes different packages as a guide on how to spend a small amount of money during a day out, as well as having fun at the same time.







This project was completed in a short period of time; therefore our research was not deep enough. This semester, we decided to complete and develop our research as an independent study group, which we are currently working on.

Our recent research has opened our eyes to how serious the worker’s problems are relating to their social status. We learned that because of the division of labor, the workers are assigned tasks which they do not know how to preform, this is a result of their language barrier and the lack of experience.



The video link at the bottom shows the living conditions of migrant workers in the Gulf where we see a pattern of problems, mostly because the workers lack education, they do not know their rights. The video also includes a story of an individual who faced financial problems and was in debt and eventually led to a horrifying ending.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMxbpsw_UTE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOF97JrUej4&feature=relmfu

Lady Wildcats

"Social interaction is an everyday event where at least two people communicate and respond to each other through language and symbolic gestures" (p118). I thought one of the perfect examples to go along with that definition is our Lady Wildcats basketball team. The Lady Wildcats team is a basketball organization that was formed two years ago at the Northwestern University in Qatar, and was immediately recognized as being one of the strongest girls’ basketball teams in Qatar Foundation. Before joining the team, I would always come to all the girl’s basketball games and cheer on the team.



It never occurred to me how different it would feel to be part of the team as opposed to a supporter of our university teams. There is so much communication that occurs between team members and many terms, basketball plays that are used during games and practices, which an outside bystander would not usually understand. There are even certain hand gestures that you have to be aware of while playing, either from team members or the coaches or even the referee’s crazy, constant hand signals.



“Division of labor is when work is broken down into various tasks, where each task is performed by people trained to do that task” (p118). Division of labor brings different types of people together and creates a sense of solidarity among groups of people. Division of labor could be applied to basketball as well, as each member on the team has a specific task to accomplish, whether she/he is the post, wing or point guard.



Each person on the Lady Wildcats has a task and we all communicate with each other, either through hand gestures or calling out basketball plays, when we are on the court to make sure our task is fulfilled. This definitely does create solidarity between the team members and we all work together to achieve our goal.
There are social statuses given to various people on the basketball team. Those statuses are achieved statuses and are given to people based on their personal effort and ability.



In sociology, collective effervescence is described as being a percieved energy felt by a group of people. In my opinion collective effervescence is best understood when referring it to a sporting event, such as basketball, as both the people cheering in the stands and the people who are part of the team have that perceived energy that everyone experiences as they watch/play the basketball games.

Hamburgerology, and what it led to!

Arabia’s Cultural Diffusion Through Arabian Horses

By many, the Arabian horse is said to be a treasured part of the Arabian culture and heritage. Though essentially Arabian, this breed of horse is now found in all areas of the world. Sociologically, one can say that a huge subculture of Arabian horse enthusiasts is in existence because of the cultural diffusion that has occurred. The Arabian heritage and culture is spread to all parts of the world through this horse breed thanks to this cultural diffusion. Horse shows focusing on the Arabian horse are held in many Arabian and non-Arabian countries to showcase the breed’s beauty, athleticism and extraordinary movement to a large audience. The biggest shows are the Salon du Cheval that is held in France, the Breeders World Cup that is held in Las Vegas and the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show that is held in Arizona, among others.

I attended the Qatar 20th International Horse Show and I met some of these previously mentioned enthusiasts. I noticed that because of their love for this breed, many of them have visited the whole Middle East and have made an effort to learn about the culture of the region. Some have even put their time into learning the Arabic language. Some shows also feature some sort of majlis seating area, with traditional Arabic food served to the audience and judges. Furthermore, some shows even feature a class for traditional horse and rider costumes, like the one seen in the photo below.

Source

Even though cooperative links and division of labor are said to be in existent in art worlds, they can also be said to exist within the Arabian horse enthusiasts breeding farm and/or training facility. Just like some works of art, labor is divided to make things easier for the people doing the work. For example, there are grooms who take care of the horses, trainers used for training, veterinarians to make sure the horses are in good health etc... So even though division of labor and cooperative links are said to exist within art worlds, technically one can see that they also exist in the work place.

Progress In Souq Waqif

Two types of progress are seen in souq waqif and sociology allows us to track these diverging behaviors in cultural behavior. One is cultural progress. Specifically, I am talking about the art exhibitions that are held in the galleries and some of the restaurants found there. The second kind of progress is that of westernization and globalization.

I have been to souq waqif many times and each time I go there, I am amazed at both of these types of progresses.

I remember the first time I ever went to souq waqif was with my school, and I remember telling one of my friends “Why is there a Baskin Robbins in the middle of souq waqif? Isn’t this supposed to be a cultural place?” What I had failed to realize then was that even though Baskin Robbins was not part of my culture, it is still part of culture- just not mine. Baskin Robbins’ motto is “Your Neighborhood Ice Cream Store” which shows how dominant it is in American society, or how dominant it wants to be. I can’t be the judge of that because I’ve never actually been to California- which is where Baskin Robbins first started out. The same goes to the restaurants in souq waqif, for example the Iranian, the Indian and the Italian restaurants.

Also, another form of cultural progress is the art exhibitions that can be seen in the galleries of souq waqif. One of the exhibitions that I went to focused on Qatari artists and I could actually see the artist painting his work onto the canvas. Not only was it interesting to see an artist at work, creating a cultural object, but it was interesting to see a Qatari one because it was the first time that I’ve seen this type of thing. I’ve also seen an exhibition where more than one person has worked on a piece of art, so it was a collective activity and there was a division of labor amongst the people. I also heard many people talking about their thoughts of the many artworks and each person had a different opinion, which proves that cultural objects are multivocal.

The other kind of progress is the westernization and globalization. The Baskin Robbins example could be put in this category as well. As I previously mentioned, Baskin Robbins started out in the United States of America, specifically the state of California. So the fact that it is located in Qatar means that Qatar is becoming westernized, even if it is through a simple thing like ice cream. Another example of westernization in souq waqif is the fact that many of the cafés have multiple television screens in them that usually play some sort of western sport, usually football. Once when I was walking around the souq, I heard a loud cheering noise coming from the cafés, I assumed a team had won and the people were cheering because of that and that they were experiencing collective effervescence. Another example is the parking lot surrounding the souq. This is part of westernization because the need for parking lots came from the west, which is where cars were invented. Traditionally parking lots were not needed because all people needed were posts to tie their camels to.