Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf
Manama since 1800

This book examines the political and social life of the Gulf city and its coastline, as exemplified by Manama in Bahrain.

Nelida Fuccaro (Author)

9781107404441, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 May 2012

278 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.38 kg

'This book on the modern history of one of the major port cities in the Persian Gulf is a major achievement and represents a milestone in the field. … The book is very rich in detail.' Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

In this path-breaking and multi-layered account of one of the least explored societies in the Middle East, Nelida Fuccaro examines the political and social life of the Gulf city and its coastline, as exemplified by Manama in Bahrain. Written as an ethnography of space, politics and community, it addresses the changing relationship between urban development, politics and society before and after the discovery of oil. By using a variety of local sources and oral histories, Fuccaro questions the role played by the British Empire and oil in state-making. Instead, she draws attention to urban residents, elites and institutions as active participants in state and nation building. She also examines how the city has continued to provide a source of political, social and sectarian identity since the early nineteenth century, challenging the view that the advent of oil and modernity represented a radical break in the urban past of the region.

List of abbreviations
List of maps
Acknowledgements
Note on transliteration and terminology
Glossary
List of abbreviations
Introduction
1. Indigenous state traditions and the dialectics of urbanisation in Bahrain, 1602–1923
2. The making of Gulf port towns before oil
3. Ordering space, politics and community in Manama, 1880s–1919
4. Restructuring city and state: the municipality and local government
5. 'Disorder', political sociability and the evolution of the urban public sphere
6. City and countryside in modern Bahrain
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index of persons, tribes and families
Index of subjects
Index of places.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]