This book seeks to both showcase and further develop innovative research and debates on contemporary Arab cultural production‎.‎ Popular culture in the form of cinema‎,‎ popular music‎,‎ literature‎,‎ visual media and cyber‎-cultures‎,‎ both local and imported‎,‎ enjoy a central role in Arab cultural life‎,‎ and the contributors to this innovative collection showcase the tremendous cultural output emerging from the Arab world‎.‎ They present sensitive‎,‎ conceptual readings whilst remaining mindful of the place of this work within a wider framework that seeks to prevent isolationist readings of cultural phenomena‎.‎ Making sense of the place of culture in the Arab world‎,‎ and agreeing upon a broadly recognisable and commonly accepted set of terms within which to discuss this output‎,‎ is a new and urgent challenge‎.‎ Arab Cultural Studies aspires to understand‎,‎ communicate and theorise these forms‎.‎ This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal for Cultural Research‎.‎