Society and Change in the Contemporary Gulf

Contents: 1. Introduction/A.K. Ramakrishnan and M.H. Ilias. 2. The change of society in the Arab Gulf/David B. Roberts. 3. A note on transformations of gulf societies in the Neoliberal context/A.K. Ramakrishnan. 4. Responding to the challenge of change/Rushda A. Siddiqui. 5. Economic diversification in the gulf Co operation Council GCC states/Mohamed Al Thani. 6. Gulf Arab women between cultural resistance and knowledge economy/Elena Maestri. 7. Only for women women the state and reform in Saudi Arabia/Amelie Le Renard. 8. A Gulf Merchant synoecism: Dubai before Oil/Stephen J. Ramos. 9. Dubai: the city and sacredness/M.H. Ilias. 10. Reaching a threshold: the stagnation of the reform process in Bahrain/Edward Burke. 11. Changing hues of green in Bahrain/Gareth Doherty. 12. Globalization and cosmopolitanism in Omani Society/Shelly Johny. Index.

This selection of essays addresses the general aspects of social change in the Gulf on the one hand and the specific contours of transformation in different milieus of the region on the other. The volume goes beyond the paradigms of security and rentier state to capture state society linkages, women’s role in knowledge economy and social reforms, the directions of democratization, changing dynamics of cities like Dubai, the interplay of sacred and secular in the Gulf. It shows the multi-layered manner in which Arab societies of the Gulf have responded to the phenomenon of globalization.

The interconnectedness of political and economic dynamics and social change is brought forth in the volume by locating specific spaces, issues and moments of such transformation. Scholars from diverse disciplinary vantage points provide the reader with a multi dimensional perspective of the societies in the Gulf.