Political Repression in Bahrain

From torture to fake news, this book lays out how the Bahrain regime has used political repression and violence to fight social movements.

Marc Owen Jones (Author)

9781108458009, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 July 2020

400 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 2 cm, 0.57 kg

'Marc Owen Jones breaks new ground in this fascinating study of how the nature and pattern of political repression in Bahrain has evolved over time and in response to changes in circumstance. The result is a book that adds greatly to our understanding of the survival strategies of authoritarian regimes.' Kristian Ulrichsen, Rice University

Exploring Bahrain's modern history through the lens of repression, this concise and accessible account work spans the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, looking at all forms of political repression from legal, statecraft, police brutality and informational controls. Considering several episodes of contention in Bahrain, from tribal resistance to the British reforms of the 1920s, the rise of the Higher Executive Committee in the 1950s, the leftist agitation of the 1970s, the 1990s Intifada and the 2011 Uprising, Marc Owen Jones offers never before seen insights into the British role in Bahrain, as well as the activities of the Al Khalifa Ruling Family. From the plundering of Bahrain's resources, to new information about the torture and murder of Bahrain civilians, this study reveals new facts about Bahrain's troubled political history. Using freedom of information requests, historical documents, interviews, and data from social media, this is a rich and original interdisciplinary history of Bahrain over one hundred years.

Introduction: Political Repression in Bahrain in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Century
1. Defining Political Repression
2. The Repression Playbook
3. Political Statecraft: Between Democratisation, Discord and Division
4. Torture, Arrests, and other Personal Integrity Violations
5. Repressive Law and Legal Repression
6. Information Controls: From Surveillance to Social Media and Fake News
Conclusion: Between Retrograde Repression and Repression 3.0.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]