Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewGengler presents a critical analysis examining the conventional wisdom of the rentier state theory and questions Bahrain's ability to buy the loyalty of its citizens despite its lagging political legitimacy. . . Recommended for upper-division undergraduate students of Middle Eastern studies.
* Choice *
This book is definitely unique and invaluable to anyone wanting a fuller understanding of the economic, political, and religious tensions within Bahrain that media outlets and published reports have scarcely revealed.
* The Sociological Imagination *
Using information gleaned from the first-ever mass political survey in Bahrain, Gengler challenges the assumptions underpinning rentier-state theory as applied to the Gulf nations. Reflecting on the Arab Spring uprisings, he argues that economic fulfilment does not inevitably breed political apathy.
* Survival *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Mountain of Smoke: Bahrain, the First Post-Oil State
1. Group-based Political Mobilization in Bahrain and the Arab Gulf
2. Al-Fātih wa al-Maftūh: The Case of Sunni-Shi'i Relations in Bahrain
3. Religion and Politics in Bahrain
4. Surveying Bahrain
5. Rentier Theory and Rentier Reality
6. Political Diversification in the Age of Regime Insecurity
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
