State-Tribe Relations and Political Legitimacy in Qatar and Kuwait. A Comparative Study

Abstract

This dissertation is a comparative study on the role of tribes and tribalism in the process of nation- and state-building in Kuwait and Qatar. The study fills a critical gap in the political sociology literature by examining the revival and rising intensity of tribalism in GCC states. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the revival of tribalism on nation-building and state legitimacy in these two states. After tracing the evolution of the tribe-state nexus since the emergence of the modern state, the research sheds new light on the political and social factors that have contributed to the revival of tribalism during the 1990s in these two countries. The findings suggest that while the power and influence of tribes were on a decline in the second half of the twentieth century, attempts by rulers to instrumentalise the tribes in order to consolidate their power and stabilise their political systems in the short term eventually backfired and led to the re-emergence of tribes as contentious forces. The revival of tribalism has also influenced social life in both countries, especially in terms of growing social conservatism, and partly by impeding the freedoms and social development of women.