Crystallizing a Discourse of "Khalijiness": Exclusion and Citizenship in the Arab Gulf States

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Penn collection
CUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
gulf
khaleej
citizenship
state
exclusion
khaliji
khaleeji
kuwait
dubai
united arab emirates
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Political Science
Sharkey
Heather
Heather Sharkey
Near Eastern Languages and Societies
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Contributor
Abstract

For many of the Arab Gulf countries, non-national populations constitute the majority of the population, with the discrepancy between the size of the national and non-national populations continuing to grow. It is in this context that the role played by these non-national populations becomes critically important. In my paper, I argue that exclusion of non-national populations from state-sponsored national identities, as manifest through citizenship rights, plays a pivotal role in fostering imagined national identities and communities among the local Arab Gulf citizens. The study considers two cases in particular: the bidoon (stateless) of Kuwait and middle-class Indian migrants in Dubai. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, I explore the ways in which the two aforementioned populations are excluded, how they contended with their exclusion, and finally attempt reconcile what, in broad terms, constitutes the overarching khaleeji – Gulf – identity that this exclusion has sought to foster. On one hand, the study finds that the bidoon of Kuwait's pursuit of inclusion is rooted in their ethnic heritage as Arabs and the Kuwaiti, tribal-rooted national identity. On the other hand, the middle-class Indian migrants of Dubai embrace their exclusion because of their self-perceived temporariness in the city and instead exhibit a sense of dual-belonging. In light of this, the study considers how the resultant khaleeji identity crystalizes around its exceptions and exclusions, while highlighting the performative and nationalistic aspects of it.

Advisor
Heather
Sharkey
J.
Date Range for Data Collection (Start Date)
Date Range for Data Collection (End Date)
Digital Object Identifier
Series name and number
Publication date
2017-05-15
Journal title
Volume number
Issue number
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Journal Issue
Comments
A senior thesis submitted to the Huntsman Program in Business and International Studies, the University of Pennsylvania, in partial fulfillment of the program degree requirements.
Recommended citation
Collection