Monarchies And Nations: Globalisation And Identity In The Ar

Description: Despite their small populations, Arab states exercise an enormous and global influence. In most academic literature, however, they are treated as if their only importance were as counters on a strategic game board. This book takes a different approach. By combining the views of anthropologists, political scientists and others, it explores how the citizen populations of these states define themselves in a wider context. As elsewhere in a supposedly 'globalizing' world, local identity is at a premium. 'The Gulf' provides extreme examples, not only because these polities are so dependent on transnational flows of wealth and imagery, but because at home the citizen work-force is often out-numbered by migrant labour. The resultant identity-construction embraces an acute yet singular nationalism. Author Biography: Paul Dresch is a lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford. James Piscatori is Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford and the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.