Edinburgh Gulf Studies Network

The Gulf Studies Network brings together scholars committed to rethinking the Gulf through historically situated and globally connected approaches. Rather than treating the region as isolated or exceptional, we examine how it is shaped by—and actively shapes—global structures of power, capital, labour, citizenship, and transnational migration.

Our approach foregrounds the Gulf as a key site in the making of global processes, while recognising its deep historical entanglements with empire, trade, capitalism, and transnational migration. The network also seeks to challenge dominant methodological approaches typically used to study the region, including binary framings such as Global North/Global South or centre/periphery.

We support interdisciplinary collaboration and critical scholarship that is both conceptually grounded and methodologically reflexive. Through workshops, events, and ongoing dialogue, the network fosters a community dedicated to rethinking the Gulf—not only as an object of study, but as a vital lens through which to interrogate and theorise questions of power, stratification, and global transformations.

If you would like to discuss way in which you or your institution might engage with Critical Gulf Studies at the University of Edinburgh, please reach out on this address: gulf.studies@ed.ac.uk.

The Critical Studies Network brings together academics, researchers and doctoral students from a range of subject areas across the University of Edinburgh, including the School of Social and Political Science, the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, and the School of Law.

The Critical Gulf Studies Network hosts regular events, conferences and workshops in collaboration with partners from within and beyond the University of Edinburgh. A full list of our events can be found below.