Jul
17

Kinship, State Formation and Governance in the Arab Gulf States

Compared to other regions, there are few books about the GCC, and specifically Qatar. I try to track new publications and I came across "Kinship, State Formation and Governance in the Arab Gulf States" by Scott J. Weiner (2022), which was published by Edinburgh University Press. The book is covers Kuwait, Oman and Qatar (the latter less so compared the others) and is the author's doctoral work. The conclusion (somewhat disjointedly) adds Somaliland and Iran. The basis of the book is fifty interviews. At several points the book is repetitive. The audience is not for experts of those moderately familiar with the region, much of the context is basic socio-cultural introduction for each country (as a PhD thesis, expected, as an academic press book, less so). The book does pose an interesting question about comparative state building in the GCC, but it largely presents descriptions rather than an answer. One quote:

"This book theorises a path-dependent process of state building that occurs in three stages. In stage one, the rule builds or expands physical and bureaucratic infrastructure. In stage two, it uses this infrastructure to extend the bureaucratic authority from the urban center to non-urban areas. In stage three, the state creates a nationalist idiom which underpins a narrative of the state's heritage and political origins." (p. 46-47) 

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