This seventh issue of Arabian Humanities explores regionalisation and globalisation processes in the Arabian Peninsula from a transnational perspective: it focuses on practices, institutions, networks and spaces as powerful factors that structure the sub-region’s social, cultural, economic and political dynamics and evolution.
Since the 1950s, the multiplication, densification, and acceleration of transnational networks and circulations in the region offer a counter narrative to representations of political fragmentation and ‘exceptionalism’ that are often associated with the Arabian Peninsula and the Arabian Gulf. This special issue aims at presenting original research regarding these phenomena. It will contribute to current research in the region by adopting a bottom-up perspective in order to understand local, regional and global dynamics of transnationalisation. In this regard, the Gulf has long been marginalised and understudied by social scientists compared to other parts of the Middle East. Although the Gulf States’ active role on the regional and global scene has been acknowledged, research still tends to focus on the economics of oil-producing countries and on claims to geopolitical leadership.
This issue will address transnational practices (by migrants, artists, traders, professionals, students, etc.) and transnational strategies (firms, investors, cultural institutions or organisations, public administrations). It will also examine the strategies of States and non state actors in the region through political and non-political networks of influence.
Contributions should highlight:
- the emergence, institutionalisation and evolution of social, economic and political networks in the peninsula, in the Middle East and beyond, as part of global networks,
- the rising role of urban Gulf economies which have profoundly changed hierarchies in the region in terms of centrality and urban hierarchies,
- the political ties within and beyond the Arabian peninsula approached from a transnational perspective focusing on non-state actors and the interaction of States and non-state actors and institutions,
- transformations in individual and national representations, practices, and policies in times of intensified transnational mobility.
Research areas involved:
- migration-related actors and institutions
- cultural actors and institutions and networks
- financial and investment actors and institutions
- economic networks and entrepreneurship actors and institutions
- institutions and actors involved in knowledge-based networks (students, universities)
- institutions and actors in terms of spatial and social dynamics (infrastructures, urbanism)
- institutions and actors in terms of circulating ideas and representations (including religion)
- institutions and actors of formal and informal transnational practices (tourism, trade, family mobility, etc.)
- institutions and actors of transnational political dynamics
Contributions should focus on countries of the sub-region (Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Yemen) linking them to regional (Middle East) and global dynamics.
Proposals for papers should be sent before May 20, 2015 to the editors of the special issue: Helene Thiollet (helene.thiollet@sciences-po.fr), and Leila Vignal (leila.vignal@univ-rennes2.fr); as well as to Sylvaine Giraud (edition@cefas.com.ye).
They should include:
- the title of the paper
- an abstract of 15 to 20 lines
Sufficient information to identify the author: full name, institutional affiliation and position, institutional address, phone number, e-mail.
After acceptance, the deadline for submission of articles (roughly 9,000 words, in French or in English) is July 15, 2015. Authors must conform to the official style guidelines of Arabian Humanities, available here or from the Editorial Secretary, Sylvaine Giraud (edition@cefas.com.ye).