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The perils of Saudi nationalism

Hosted by Department of International Relations

In-person and online public event (Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building)

Speaker

Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed

Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed

Chair

Professor Jeffrey Chwieroth

Professor Jeffrey Chwieroth

In Saudi Arabia, the project of nation-building was troubled from its first days as the Al-Saud rulers struggled to construct a nation out of the fragments, mainly the pervasive sub-national identities that dominated Arabia or the supra-national Islamic identity that the regime promoted to achieve legitimacy. But since the rise of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in 2017, a new populist Saudi nationalism is promoted.

This lecture traces the shift in Saudi nation-building from the early days of religious nationalism to the current populist trend. It will explain why only recently constructing a Saudi nation became a priority for the leadership after almost a century of creating a state. The new Saudi national narrative inevitably involves selectively remembering and forgetting aspects of the past in order to consolidate a shift in national consciousness about who Saudis are. But while the new nationalism promises to invigorate the nation, the process is accompanied by serious violence against dissenting voices.

Meet our speaker and chair

Madawi Al-Rasheed (@MadawiDr) is Visiting Professor at the LSE Middle East Centre. Since joining the MEC, Madawi has been conducting research on mutations among Saudi Islamists after the 2011 Arab uprisings. This research focuses on the new reinterpretations of Islamic texts prevalent among a small minority of Saudi reformers and the activism in the pursuit of democratic governance and civil society. She regularly contributes to international television and print media.

Jeffrey Chwieroth (@jmchwieroth) is Head of the Department of International Relations and Professor of International Political Economy in the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

More about this event

This event will be available to watch on LSE Live. LSE Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

This event is the Fred Halliday Memorial Lecture.

The Department of International Relations at LSE is a global leader. We are now in our 95th year - one of the oldest as well as largest IR departments in the world, with a truly international reputation. We are ranked 2nd in the UK and 4th in the world in the QS World University Ranking by Subject 2023 tables for Politics and International Studies.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSESaudiNationalism

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