The Political Transformation of Gulf Tribal States
Subtitle: Elitism and the Social Contract in Kuwait, Bahrain and Dubai, 1918-1970s
By: Shaul Yanai
Publisher: Sussex Academic Press
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Brighton
Language: eng
Number of pages: 335
ISBN-13: 9781845196158
Subjects: Politics and government; Social change; History; Political culture; Tribal government; Elite (Social sciences); Social contract
Description: "The reform movements and attempts to establish parliamentary institutions in the Persian Gulf states of Kuwait, Bahrain and Dubai between the First World War and the independent era of the 1970s were not inspired by western example or by any tradition of civil representation. The move to a parliamentary system not only represented a milestone in the history of the region, creating a legacy for future generations, but was a unique transition in the Arab world. The transformation of these states from loose chiefdoms of minimal coherence and centralization, into centralizing and institutionalized monarchies, involved the setting up of primary institutions of government, the demarcation of borders, and establishment of a monarchical order. As this new political and social order evolved, ideas of national struggle and national rights penetrated Gulf societies. Gulf citizens who had spent time in Arab states, mostly in Egypt and Iraq, took part in the genesis of a public Arab-Gulf national discourse, enabling the Gulf population to become acquainted with national struggles for independence. As a result merchants of notable families, newly educated elements, and even workers, began to oppose the dominance of the rulers. Both the rulers and the commercial elites (including members of the ruling families) tried to formulate a new and different social contract with the rulers seeking to entrench their political power by using new administrative means and financial power"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-312) and index.
Table of contents: title: Part I. From chiefdoms to tribal states : Kuwait, Bahrain, and Dubai until 1930; title: Foundations of the tribal state; title: Relations between the merchant elites and ruling families : from the late nineteenth century to the early 1920s; title: The rise of the tribal state in the 1920s; title: Part II. The change in tribal policy : the period of centralism and parliamentarianism, 1930-1938; title: Modernization, tradition and the Utub elite in Kuwait; title: Dubai : tradition and modernization; title: Bahrain : modernization of the tribal state in the 1930s; title: Part III. Parliamentarianism and tribalism : the crisis years, 1938-1940; title: Kuwait's legislative council, 1938-1939; title: Dubai's legislative council, 1938-1940; title: Part IV. Parliamentarianism in the period of independence; title: The development of a new political culture.