Understanding Difference and Inequality in Gulf Societies

'Understanding Difference and Inequality in Gulf Societies: Methodological, Political, and Conceptual Reflections from the region' was sponsored by the Strategic Research Support Fund, the Alwaleed Centre, and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities. The event brought together 11 senior and early-career scholars in and of the Gulf to discuss the conceptual, political, and methodological challenges in studying these issues.

The workshop aimed to enhance understanding of the meanings and materiality of difference and inequality. It offered a space to discuss tools, frameworks, and paradigms to better articulate and challenge patterns of power, privilege, and exclusion in contemporary Gulf societies. The primary goals were to set a research agenda, foster global collaborations between academics working in and on the Gulf, and establish an interdisciplinary research network in Edinburgh focusing on inequalities from a historically situated, and globally connected perspective.

The distinctive feature of this workshop was its participants: all were women from or based in the Gulf, with meaningful ties to the region through family, work, or residency. This composition, though not intentionally selected, highlights the emerging quality of research from scholars deeply connected to the geography they study. This is noteworthy because much research on the Gulf is often conducted by those who view the region merely as an empirical case study, without significant prior engagement with the place and its people. Research generated from a literal and figurative distance from these geographies can skew the understanding of and approaches to difference and inequality in and beyond the region.

This situation raises important questions about whom the research serves, how society members are engaged, who defines the contours of research agendas and knowledge generation, and what information and whose voices are lost or obscured in the process. It also prompts reflections on who gets to write about the Gulf, what issues are deemed important, and what data is omitted. These considerations affect our understanding of power, exclusion, and belonging—questions that have been central to the workshop's panels and discussions.

The workshop laid a strong foundation for ongoing dialogue and research on these critical issues from the participants' disciplinary perspectives, which included law, literature, sociology, social policy, international relations, education, and anthropology. Key questions addressed during the workshop included:

• What systems and structures generate and maintain inequality in the Gulf, and how are they influenced by race, gender, class, and citizenship and other markers of categorical difference? How do we engage with the conspicuous absence of class in understanding difference and inequality in this context? 
• What are the significant academic and policy developments in the field?
• What areas require more attention, what is overstudied, and what remains problematic?
• What constitutes critical Gulf Studies, and how can we advance it in conversation with and beyond critical social theory?
• How do we situate the Gulf within broader global inequalities, and what role does it play in maintaining them?
• What are the politics of knowledge production in/on the Gulf, including funding, citations, researcher positionality, and the issue of 'parachuting researchers'? How do these issues get in the way we understand and write about power and inequality in Gulf societies?
• What are the limitations of area studies, often reducing the Gulf to a single category of analysis? How do we, as researchers, challenge or contribute to undermining complexities of these societies and particular systems that shape the way power, privilege and disadvantage operates in these societies?
• In the absence of comprehensive, disaggregated data, what alternative methodologies can document experiences of privilege, power, and disadvantage?

The workshop featured five panels over two days, presenting participants’ current work related to the broad themes and questions outlined. The first panel, with Zahra Babar and Neha Vora, set the tone by discussing the 'State of Affairs' in studying difference and inequality in the Gulf, reflecting on current research trends and challenges. Subsequent panels covered topics such as the colonial and racialized history of citizenship, social construction and contestation of nationality, sect and class in Bahrain, the role of Arabic literature in historicizing Gulf migration, golden visas in the UAE, and the impact of socio-legal and labor reforms on migration and labor market policies.

On the second day, discussions included women and work in Saudi Arabia, alternative conceptualizations of citizenship and belonging through the experiences of Bidoon in Kuwait, gendered citizenship laws, mixed nationality families in the Gulf, and legal inequality beyond the national/non-national dichotomy in the UAE, using family as a unit of analysis.

The final session featured an open discussion on future research and collaborations. Participants expressed a strong interest in continuing the dialogue and growing the network for Gulf critical studies through annual events and a research network. Potential outputs include a podcast series as a resource and teaching tool for researchers and students. As Gulf societies continue to evolve, understanding the complex dynamics of difference and inequality will remain crucial for scholars, policymakers, and society at large. Efforts are underway to arrange future events to build on the workshop's momentum, expand the network, and deepen the exploration of these vital themes, while prioritizing the voices and perspectives of researchers closely connected to the region.

For more information, please contact Idil Akinci at idil.akinci@ed.ac.uk or follow her on Twitter at @idil_akinci.