From Individual Memory to a Collective Question
How does a personal memory, over time, become part of a question that belongs to more than one person?
A Syrian social and knowledge-based project.
Toward meaningful, independent dialogue and a pluralistic society at peace with itself.
Mushtarak is a Syrian social and knowledge-based project that opens space for expression, dialogue, and the production of knowledge, and treats difference as a natural part of living together.
AboutThe Mushtarak vision
Sections
Five editorial spaces that hold different forms of writing, inquiry, and encounter side by side.
NarrativesPart of our future vision
A person’s inner experience, whether lived or imagined, lies at the heart of social experience. Individual stories reveal dimensions of the transformations people undergo and the meanings they give to their experiences, questions, fears, and hopes. In “Narratives,” we read and listen to these stories in order to understand what is shared and what differs in the concerns, dreams, pain, and imaginings we carry within us.
Critical ReflectionsPart of our future vision
Knowledge—in its scholarly, critical, and cultural forms—precedes society’s institutions. Institutions cannot express society or respond to its transformations unless they are grounded in a critical understanding of the phenomena, experiences, and issues encountered by its members. When institutions become detached from this understanding, they turn into rigid frameworks that reproduce reality rather than question and develop it. In “Critical Reflections,” we reflect on and interrogate what Syrians experience, individually and collectively; seek to understand it within its different contexts; and provide space for producing critical knowledge that precedes, accompanies, and evaluates institutional action.
LabOur starting point
Building trust, engaging with social fractures, and addressing divisions and tensions between individuals in post-conflict societies all run through dialogue—as a practice that re-examines relationships and helps shape shared ground. Dialogue makes room for differences and conflicts to become understandable and negotiable, and for experiences and ideas to become practices that can be tested and developed.
Discover the Social LabThe OutlookPart of our future vision
Our ideas about ourselves and our societies are not formed in isolation. Learning about the world, and about experiences and ideas that have emerged in different contexts, allows us to reconsider what is familiar and to see ourselves from new perspectives. “The Outlook” carries this mission, guiding readers toward works and conversations that cross cultures and generations.
MashrabiyaPart of our future vision
Culture, in its broadest sense, encompasses meanings, symbols, and practices that continuously reshape social reality. Folk arts, literature, works of art, singing, social rituals, myths, and other forms of cultural expression contribute to shaping our perceptions and the way we understand the world around us. Much like the architectural feature found in Arab homes, “Mashrabiya” offers a view onto a broad and open field of cultural subjects whose valuable meanings and representations still call for deeper understanding.
Read. Reflect. Reconsider.
Articles
Writing that explores Syrian experiences, questions, and possibilities for shared life.
Browse articlesAbout
A space we rebuild together.
Decades of repression and authoritarianism, followed by more than a decade of war, destruction, and migration, have left deep scars on the Syrian social fabric. They have weakened relationships and trust and narrowed the spaces in which Syrians can understand their shared experiences, discuss matters of public concern, and reflect on their future.
Mushtarak emerges from this context as a social and knowledge-based project that seeks to help rebuild these spaces, open room for expression, dialogue, and the production of knowledge, and restore difference to its place as a natural part of living together. It remains committed to its motto: “Toward meaningful, independent dialogue and a pluralistic society at peace with itself.”
Where we begin
The Social Lab
We meet to understand. Understanding opens another conversation.
Through the Social Lab, we aim to create space for Syrians to listen to one another and explore questions that shape their lives, relationships, and society. We see dialogue as a practice that can help build trust, understand social divisions, and discover possibilities for meeting and working together.
Discover the Social Lab↗An idea in development
How do we live with our differences? What can we build together from experiences that do not look alike?