New Books Network Zainab Saleh, "Political Undesirables: Citizenship, Denaturalization, and Reclamation in Iraq" (Stanford UP, 2025)
Jan 24, 2026
Zainab Saleh, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Haverford College who studies migration and citizenship in Iraq. She traces mass denaturalizations of Iraqi Jews (1950–51) and Iraqis of Iranian origin (1980s). Short accounts explore legal tools used to label people as foreign, family memory of neighborhood expulsions, and how expelled Iraqis reclaimed belonging through language and social ties.
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Childhood Neighbors Vanished Overnight
- Zainab Saleh recalls childhood neighbors who vanished after being labeled 'Iraqis of Iranian origin.'
- Her family explained this showed citizenship could be taken away and required painful compromises to survive.
Return Demanded Informant Roles
- Saleh describes neighbors who returned only after the mother became a Ba'ath informant.
- She emphasizes the impossible moral choice between exile hardship and collaboration with the regime.
Denaturalization Tied To Loyalty Claims
- Saleh shows denaturalization rhetoric consistently frames targeted citizens as foreigners and security threats.
- Citizenship in Iraq functions as a privilege tied to loyalty rather than an unconditional right.
