Khaleeji-capital: Class-formation and regional integration in the Middle-East Gulf

Author First name, Last name, Institution

Adam Hanieh, Zayed University

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Historical Materialism

Publication Date

8-1-2010

Abstract

The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) are most typically understood from the perspective of their position as the world's key oil- and gas-producing states. This essay explores the largely overlooked processes of class-formation in the GCC, and argues that very profound tendencies of capital- internationalisation are occurring alongside Gulf regional integration. The circuits of capital are increasingly cast at the pan-Gulf scale, and a capitalist class - described as khaleeji-capital - is emerging around the accumulation-opportunities presented within the new regional space. The formation of khaleeji-capital represents the development of a class increasingly aligned with the interests of imperialism and has important ramifications for understanding the region's political economy. © 2010 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden.

ISSN

1465-4466

Publisher

Brill

Volume

18

Issue

2

First Page

35

Last Page

76

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

class-formation, Gulf Cooperation Council, internationalisation, Middle East, political economy, regional integration

Scopus ID

77956036198

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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