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This project explores how heritage is defined and constructed by government and civil society across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). With specific focus on the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar, this research interrogates the socio-political dynamics that underpin heritage-making efforts and national identity construction. It provides an important opportunity, through fieldwork and workshops, to archive the rapid expansion of the cultural sectors across the Arabian Peninsula and looks at the ways in which different actors, including grassroots initiatives, and more substantially the state, engage in heritage production to authenticate and promote national history and identity. It also interrogates the extent to which these efforts reflect locals’ understanding of identity, belonging, and nationalism.
Project Outputs
- Whose story? Narratives of nationalism in heritage production of the Arabian Peninsula, LSE Middle East Centre paper series (39), August 2020.
- Narratives of Nationalism in Culture and Heritage Production of the Arabian Peninsula: Bringing the State Back in, Middle Eastern Studies, July 2020.
- Heritage and National Identity Construction in the Gulf: Between State-building and Grassroots Initiatives, LSE Middle East Centre Blog (Series), February 2020.
- Heritage and National Identity Construction in the Gulf: Between State-building and Grassroots Initiatives, LSE Middle East Centre Workshop, December 2019.
- Heritage and Identity-Making in the GCC, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Conference, University of Leeds, June 2019.
- National Identity and the Emirati State, LSE Middle East Centre Blog (Series), December 2018.
- National Identity and the Emirati State, LSE Middle East Centre Workshop, 5 October 2018.
Research Team
Courtney Freer | Principal Investigator
Courtney is Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre. Her work focuses on the domestic politics of the Gulf states, particularly the role of Islamism and tribalism.
Rima Sabban | Co-Principal Investigator
Rima is Associate Professor of Sociology and the Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at Zayed University, Dubai.
Yasmine Kherfi | Researcher
Yasmine is Projects Coordinator at the LSE Middle East Centre, working on the management of different research projects.