Popular Culture and Political Identity in the Arab Gulf States
/ Editors: Alanoud Alsharekh; Robert Springborg
- Saqi Books; London Middle East Institute at SOAS; 2008
- 144p; 21x14cm;
- SOAS Middle East Issues .
As the Gulf assumes an ever more important identity in the global political economy, we see the emergence of a new popular and political culture underpinning its increasingly self-confident national identities. This volume explores the new dynamism of the Gulf, reflected not just in high-rise buildings and booming stock markets, but also manifested in the realms of art, ideas and expression, and their relationships with political authority. Contributors include figures instrumental to the emergence of these new identities, including artists, broadcasters and cultural commentators. Contents: 1. Heritage and Cultural Nationalism in the UAE / Fred H. Lawson and Hasan M. Al-Naboodah 2. Place and Space in the Memory of UAE Elders / Nadia Rahman 3. The Nationalistaion of Culture: Kuwait's invention of of a pearl-diving heritage / Sulayman Khalaf 4. An aspect of cultural development in Bahrain: Archaeology and the restoration of historical sites / Mohammed A. Alkhozai 5. The social and political elements that drive the poetic journey / Nimah Ismail Nawwab 6. Sport and identity in the Gulf / Abdullah Baabood 7. Media as social matrix in the UAE / NAda Mourtada-Sabbah, Mohammed al Mutawa, John W. Fox and Tim Walters 8. Diversification in Abu Dhabi and Dubai: The impact on national identity and the ruling bargain / Christopher Davidson 9. Debates on political reform in the Gulf: The dynamics of liberalising public spaces / Amr Hamzawy 10. Gulf societies: Coexistence of tradition and modernity / Lubna Ahmed al Kazi