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SoSe 19: Black Gold Coast: The Arabian/Persian Gulf in the Age of Oil

Claudia Ghrawi

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This seminar provides an overview of major historical, societal and political developments in the Arabian/Persian Gulf under the aegis of 20th century oil capitalism. The aim of the seminar is to establish a historical understanding of the countries of the Arabian/Persian Gulf and their societies as fundamentally shaped by one economic key commodity – petroleum – and driven by global economic forces. The seminar falls into four thematic parts: The first introductory part familiarizes the students with the history of the Gulf region in pre-oil times. It focuses on interconnections of the local societies across the region and beyond, e.g. commercial, educational and religious networks and their relation to Ottoman and British imperialism. In the second part, the search for and exploitation of oil by international corporate actors will be established as major force behind the creation of the Gulf region as we know it today. This part focusses on the creation of new boundaries through oil concessions, the role of international oil companies in shaping modern statehood and in bringing about social and cultural change, and the creation of new economic and migration networks. Special attention will be paid to urbanization processes in the context of the oil industry and linked social and political developments. The latter are discussed in more detail in the third part, in which the students will look at regional political networks, such as early labor movements among oil workers, nationalization movements as well as transnational leftist and Islamic political mobilization as reactions to oil modernity. The fourth part will provide the opportunity to look into selected problematic fields and their connection to recent political developments, such as the impact of oil-fueled urbanization, environmental destruction and authoritarian government on fledgling civil society, political opposition and identity politics. The course requirements are active participation in the seminar, which includes individual preparation for each session by reading the required texts, regular participation in the discussions, one 20-minute presentation or, alternatively, moderation of a discussion, and writing a term paper (6000 words). Recommended introductory literature: David Commins: The Gulf States. A Modern History (London: I.B. Tauris, 2012); Hossein Askari: Collaborative Colonialism. The Political Economy of Oil in the Persian Gulf (New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013); Nelida Fuccaro (ed.): “Histories of Oil and Urban Modernity in the Middle East,” CSSAAME, special issue, Volume 33, Number 1 (2013). close

13 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Fri, 12:00 - 14:00 13 Class schedule

Fri, 2019-04-12 12:00 - 14:00

Lecturers:
Claudia Ghrawi