Author: Toby Craig Jones
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674059409
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
Oil and water, and the science and technology used to harness them, have long been at the heart of political authority in Saudi Arabia. Oil’s abundance, and the fantastic wealth it generated, has been a keystone in the political primacy of the kingdom’s ruling family. The other bedrock element was water, whose importance was measured by its dearth. Over much of the twentieth century, it was through efforts to control and manage oil and water that the modern state of Saudi Arabia emerged. The central government’s power over water, space, and people expanded steadily over time, enabled by increasing oil revenues. The operations of the Arabian American Oil Company proved critical to expansion and to achieving power over the environment. Political authority in Saudi Arabia took shape through global networks of oil, science, and expertise. And, where oil and water were central to the forging of Saudi authoritarianism, they were also instrumental in shaping politics on the ground. Nowhere was the impact more profound than in the oil-rich Eastern Province, where the politics of oil and water led to a yearning for national belonging and to calls for revolution. Saudi Arabia is traditionally viewed through the lenses of Islam, tribe, and the economics of oil. Desert Kingdom now provides an alternative history of environmental power and the making of the modern Saudi state. It demonstrates how vital the exploitation of nature and the roles of science and global experts were to the consolidation of political authority in the desert.
Desert Kingdom
Author: Toby Craig Jones
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674059409
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
Oil and water, and the science and technology used to harness them, have long been at the heart of political authority in Saudi Arabia. Oil’s abundance, and the fantastic wealth it generated, has been a keystone in the political primacy of the kingdom’s ruling family. The other bedrock element was water, whose importance was measured by its dearth. Over much of the twentieth century, it was through efforts to control and manage oil and water that the modern state of Saudi Arabia emerged. The central government’s power over water, space, and people expanded steadily over time, enabled by increasing oil revenues. The operations of the Arabian American Oil Company proved critical to expansion and to achieving power over the environment. Political authority in Saudi Arabia took shape through global networks of oil, science, and expertise. And, where oil and water were central to the forging of Saudi authoritarianism, they were also instrumental in shaping politics on the ground. Nowhere was the impact more profound than in the oil-rich Eastern Province, where the politics of oil and water led to a yearning for national belonging and to calls for revolution. Saudi Arabia is traditionally viewed through the lenses of Islam, tribe, and the economics of oil. Desert Kingdom now provides an alternative history of environmental power and the making of the modern Saudi state. It demonstrates how vital the exploitation of nature and the roles of science and global experts were to the consolidation of political authority in the desert.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674059409
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
Oil and water, and the science and technology used to harness them, have long been at the heart of political authority in Saudi Arabia. Oil’s abundance, and the fantastic wealth it generated, has been a keystone in the political primacy of the kingdom’s ruling family. The other bedrock element was water, whose importance was measured by its dearth. Over much of the twentieth century, it was through efforts to control and manage oil and water that the modern state of Saudi Arabia emerged. The central government’s power over water, space, and people expanded steadily over time, enabled by increasing oil revenues. The operations of the Arabian American Oil Company proved critical to expansion and to achieving power over the environment. Political authority in Saudi Arabia took shape through global networks of oil, science, and expertise. And, where oil and water were central to the forging of Saudi authoritarianism, they were also instrumental in shaping politics on the ground. Nowhere was the impact more profound than in the oil-rich Eastern Province, where the politics of oil and water led to a yearning for national belonging and to calls for revolution. Saudi Arabia is traditionally viewed through the lenses of Islam, tribe, and the economics of oil. Desert Kingdom now provides an alternative history of environmental power and the making of the modern Saudi state. It demonstrates how vital the exploitation of nature and the roles of science and global experts were to the consolidation of political authority in the desert.
Modern Saudi Arabia
Author: Valerie Anishchenkova
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1440857059
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 383
Book Description
This thematic encyclopedia examines contemporary and historical Saudi Arabia, with entries that fall under such themes as geography, history, government and politics, religion and thought, food, etiquette, media, and much more. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, known for its petroleum reserves and leadership role in the Middle East, is explored in this latest addition to the Understanding Modern Nations series. Organized into thematic chapters, Modern Saudi Arabia covers both history and contemporary daily life. Chapter topics include: Geography; History; Government and Politics; Economy; Religion and Thought; Social Classes and Ethnicity; Gender, Marriage, and Sexuality; Education; Language; Etiquette; Literature and Drama; Art and Architecture; Music and Dance; Food; Leisure and Sports; and Media and Popular Culture. Each chapter contains an overview of the topic and alphabetized entries on examples of each theme. A detailed historical timeline spans from prehistoric times to the present. Special appendices are also included, offering profiles of a typical day in the life of representative members of Saudi society, a glossary, key facts and figures about Saudi Arabia, and a holiday chart. This volume will be useful for readers looking for specific topical information and for those who want to read entire chapters to gain a deeper perspective on aspects of modern Saudi Arabia.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1440857059
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 383
Book Description
This thematic encyclopedia examines contemporary and historical Saudi Arabia, with entries that fall under such themes as geography, history, government and politics, religion and thought, food, etiquette, media, and much more. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, known for its petroleum reserves and leadership role in the Middle East, is explored in this latest addition to the Understanding Modern Nations series. Organized into thematic chapters, Modern Saudi Arabia covers both history and contemporary daily life. Chapter topics include: Geography; History; Government and Politics; Economy; Religion and Thought; Social Classes and Ethnicity; Gender, Marriage, and Sexuality; Education; Language; Etiquette; Literature and Drama; Art and Architecture; Music and Dance; Food; Leisure and Sports; and Media and Popular Culture. Each chapter contains an overview of the topic and alphabetized entries on examples of each theme. A detailed historical timeline spans from prehistoric times to the present. Special appendices are also included, offering profiles of a typical day in the life of representative members of Saudi society, a glossary, key facts and figures about Saudi Arabia, and a holiday chart. This volume will be useful for readers looking for specific topical information and for those who want to read entire chapters to gain a deeper perspective on aspects of modern Saudi Arabia.
Awakening Islam
Author: Stéphane Lacroix
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674265254
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 382
Book Description
Amidst the roil of war and instability across the Middle East, the West is still searching for ways to understand the Islamic world. Stéphane Lacroix has now given us a penetrating look at the political dynamics of Saudi Arabia, one of the most opaque of Muslim countries and the place that gave birth to Osama bin Laden. The result is a history that has never been told before. Lacroix shows how thousands of Islamist militants from Egypt, Syria, and other Middle Eastern countries, starting in the 1950s, escaped persecution and found refuge in Saudi Arabia, where they were integrated into the core of key state institutions and society. The transformative result was the Sahwa, or “Islamic Awakening,” an indigenous social movement that blended political activism with local religious ideas. Awakening Islam offers a pioneering analysis of how the movement became an essential element of Saudi society, and why, in the late 1980s, it turned against the very state that had nurtured it. Though the “Sahwa Insurrection” failed, it has bequeathed the world two very different, and very determined, heirs: the Islamo-liberals, who seek an Islamic constitutional monarchy through peaceful activism, and the neo-jihadis, supporters of bin Laden's violent campaign. Awakening Islam is built upon seldom-seen documents in Arabic, numerous travels through the country, and interviews with an unprecedented number of Saudi Islamists across the ranks of today’s movement. The result affords unique insight into a closed culture and its potent brand of Islam, which has been exported across the world and which remains dangerously misunderstood.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674265254
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 382
Book Description
Amidst the roil of war and instability across the Middle East, the West is still searching for ways to understand the Islamic world. Stéphane Lacroix has now given us a penetrating look at the political dynamics of Saudi Arabia, one of the most opaque of Muslim countries and the place that gave birth to Osama bin Laden. The result is a history that has never been told before. Lacroix shows how thousands of Islamist militants from Egypt, Syria, and other Middle Eastern countries, starting in the 1950s, escaped persecution and found refuge in Saudi Arabia, where they were integrated into the core of key state institutions and society. The transformative result was the Sahwa, or “Islamic Awakening,” an indigenous social movement that blended political activism with local religious ideas. Awakening Islam offers a pioneering analysis of how the movement became an essential element of Saudi society, and why, in the late 1980s, it turned against the very state that had nurtured it. Though the “Sahwa Insurrection” failed, it has bequeathed the world two very different, and very determined, heirs: the Islamo-liberals, who seek an Islamic constitutional monarchy through peaceful activism, and the neo-jihadis, supporters of bin Laden's violent campaign. Awakening Islam is built upon seldom-seen documents in Arabic, numerous travels through the country, and interviews with an unprecedented number of Saudi Islamists across the ranks of today’s movement. The result affords unique insight into a closed culture and its potent brand of Islam, which has been exported across the world and which remains dangerously misunderstood.
Wahhābī Islam Facing the Challenges of Modernity
Author: Muhammad Al-Atawneh
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004185704
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 229
Book Description
This book focuses on the history and work of the Saudi Dār al-Iftā, one of the most central modern Islamic official religious institutions. The study was undertaken from two perspectives: (1) Dār al-Iftā creation, power structure, functions and the sociopolitical environment in which it operates; and (2) The actual work of this institution, mainly the mechanisms by which modern Saudi state muftis cope with clashes between Wahhābī idealism and the reality of an evolving society. This is a critical work which updates the readers' grasp of contemporary law and society in the modern Saudi state, in particular, and in Islamic jurisprudence in general.
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004185704
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 229
Book Description
This book focuses on the history and work of the Saudi Dār al-Iftā, one of the most central modern Islamic official religious institutions. The study was undertaken from two perspectives: (1) Dār al-Iftā creation, power structure, functions and the sociopolitical environment in which it operates; and (2) The actual work of this institution, mainly the mechanisms by which modern Saudi state muftis cope with clashes between Wahhābī idealism and the reality of an evolving society. This is a critical work which updates the readers' grasp of contemporary law and society in the modern Saudi state, in particular, and in Islamic jurisprudence in general.
Modern Woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Author: Hend T. Alsudairy
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443893285
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 150
Book Description
The first book to situate the Saudi woman in a broader cultural context, this text explores a variety of themes, historical developments, and social taboos. It also investigates a wide range of writing by Saudi women, beginning with the first attempt by a woman to write for the public in the middle of the twentieth century up to the peak of the Saudi woman’s literary production in this millennium. It is also concerned with the Saudi woman’s social, economic, and religious contributions, making it possible for the reader to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the reality of Saudi women through studying and connecting the Saudi woman’s past with her present. As such, this book represents a major contribution to the study of women in the Middle East, and offers a unique contrast between fictional presentation and lived experience.
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443893285
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 150
Book Description
The first book to situate the Saudi woman in a broader cultural context, this text explores a variety of themes, historical developments, and social taboos. It also investigates a wide range of writing by Saudi women, beginning with the first attempt by a woman to write for the public in the middle of the twentieth century up to the peak of the Saudi woman’s literary production in this millennium. It is also concerned with the Saudi woman’s social, economic, and religious contributions, making it possible for the reader to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the reality of Saudi women through studying and connecting the Saudi woman’s past with her present. As such, this book represents a major contribution to the study of women in the Middle East, and offers a unique contrast between fictional presentation and lived experience.
The History of Saudi Arabia
Author: A M Vasilev
Publisher: Saqi
ISBN: 0863567797
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 442
Book Description
How has Saudi Arabia managed to maintain its Arab and Islamic values while at the same time adopting Western technology and a market economy? How have its hereditary leaders, who govern with a mixture of political pragmatism and religious zeal, managed to maintain their power? This comprehensive history of Saudi Arabia from 1745 to the present provides insight into its culture and politics, its powerful oil industry, its relations with its neighbours, and the ongoing influence of the Wahhabi movement. Based on a wealth of Arab, American, British, Western and Eastern European sources, this book will stand as the definitive account of the largest state on the Arabian peninsula.
Publisher: Saqi
ISBN: 0863567797
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 442
Book Description
How has Saudi Arabia managed to maintain its Arab and Islamic values while at the same time adopting Western technology and a market economy? How have its hereditary leaders, who govern with a mixture of political pragmatism and religious zeal, managed to maintain their power? This comprehensive history of Saudi Arabia from 1745 to the present provides insight into its culture and politics, its powerful oil industry, its relations with its neighbours, and the ongoing influence of the Wahhabi movement. Based on a wealth of Arab, American, British, Western and Eastern European sources, this book will stand as the definitive account of the largest state on the Arabian peninsula.
A History of Saudi Arabia
Author: Madawi al-Rasheed
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052176128X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 343
Book Description
This new edition covers the political, economic and social developments in Saudi Arabia since 9/11 to the present day.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052176128X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 343
Book Description
This new edition covers the political, economic and social developments in Saudi Arabia since 9/11 to the present day.
Salaam Alaikum
Author: T. Shelley Russel T. Shelley
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781426907425
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"SALAAM ALAIKUM - Living in Modern Saudi Arabia" is a factual account of one man's experiences during five years living and working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is a snapshot of modern life as a true non-believer in a sternly fundamental Islamic country, one blessed by fabulous wealth and cursed by conflicting views on how to spend it. It is often light-hearted, for it is after all a book about daily living, but some chapters, such as Saudi Driving, need a somewhat heavier examination. There are quite a few photos of dubious quality included to break up the text, and all names have been changed for the obvious reason. All the information in the book has come from the author's personal experiences, which of course are entirely anecdotal. This, however, should not condemn the contents to automatic rejection due to a lack of properly-notarized evidence. In fact, it is all true, except perhaps for the author's opinions. They are probably only ninety percent correct.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781426907425
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"SALAAM ALAIKUM - Living in Modern Saudi Arabia" is a factual account of one man's experiences during five years living and working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is a snapshot of modern life as a true non-believer in a sternly fundamental Islamic country, one blessed by fabulous wealth and cursed by conflicting views on how to spend it. It is often light-hearted, for it is after all a book about daily living, but some chapters, such as Saudi Driving, need a somewhat heavier examination. There are quite a few photos of dubious quality included to break up the text, and all names have been changed for the obvious reason. All the information in the book has come from the author's personal experiences, which of course are entirely anecdotal. This, however, should not condemn the contents to automatic rejection due to a lack of properly-notarized evidence. In fact, it is all true, except perhaps for the author's opinions. They are probably only ninety percent correct.
Of Sand or Soil
Author: Nadav Samin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691183384
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302
Book Description
Why do tribal genealogies matter in modern-day Saudi Arabia? What compels the strivers and climbers of the new Saudi Arabia to want to prove their authentic descent from one or another prestigious Arabian tribe? Of Sand or Soil looks at how genealogy and tribal belonging have informed the lives of past and present inhabitants of Saudi Arabia and how the Saudi government's tacit glorification of tribal origins has shaped the powerful development of the kingdom’s genealogical culture. Nadav Samin presents the first extended biographical exploration of the major twentieth-century Saudi scholar Ḥamad al-Jāsir, whose genealogical studies frame the story about belonging and identity in the modern kingdom. Samin examines the interplay between al-Jāsir’s genealogical project and his many hundreds of petitioners, mostly Saudis of nontribal or lower status origin who sought validation of their tribal roots in his genealogical texts. Investigating the Saudi relationship to this opaque, orally inscribed historical tradition, Samin considers the consequences of modern Saudi genealogical politics and how the most intimate anxieties of nontribal Saudis today are amplified by the governing strategies and kinship ideology of the Saudi state. Challenging the impression that Saudi culture is determined by puritanical religiosity or rentier economic principles, Of Sand or Soil shows how the exploration and establishment of tribal genealogies have become influential phenomena in contemporary Saudi society. Beyond Saudi Arabia, this book casts important new light on the interplay between kinship ideas, oral narrative, and state formation in rapidly changing societies.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691183384
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302
Book Description
Why do tribal genealogies matter in modern-day Saudi Arabia? What compels the strivers and climbers of the new Saudi Arabia to want to prove their authentic descent from one or another prestigious Arabian tribe? Of Sand or Soil looks at how genealogy and tribal belonging have informed the lives of past and present inhabitants of Saudi Arabia and how the Saudi government's tacit glorification of tribal origins has shaped the powerful development of the kingdom’s genealogical culture. Nadav Samin presents the first extended biographical exploration of the major twentieth-century Saudi scholar Ḥamad al-Jāsir, whose genealogical studies frame the story about belonging and identity in the modern kingdom. Samin examines the interplay between al-Jāsir’s genealogical project and his many hundreds of petitioners, mostly Saudis of nontribal or lower status origin who sought validation of their tribal roots in his genealogical texts. Investigating the Saudi relationship to this opaque, orally inscribed historical tradition, Samin considers the consequences of modern Saudi genealogical politics and how the most intimate anxieties of nontribal Saudis today are amplified by the governing strategies and kinship ideology of the Saudi state. Challenging the impression that Saudi culture is determined by puritanical religiosity or rentier economic principles, Of Sand or Soil shows how the exploration and establishment of tribal genealogies have become influential phenomena in contemporary Saudi society. Beyond Saudi Arabia, this book casts important new light on the interplay between kinship ideas, oral narrative, and state formation in rapidly changing societies.
Changing Saudi Arabia
Author: Sean Foley
Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers
ISBN: 9781626377561
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 221
Book Description
Explores the role of Saudi Arabia's arts movement in promoting progressive social reform in the kingdom.
Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers
ISBN: 9781626377561
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 221
Book Description
Explores the role of Saudi Arabia's arts movement in promoting progressive social reform in the kingdom.