SAUDI SOCIETY AND THE STATE: IDEATIONAL AND MATERIAL BASIS

Ozev M. H.

ARAB STUDIES QUARTERLY, vol.39, no.4, pp.996-1017, 2017 (ESCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 39 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2017
  • Doi Number: 10.13169/arabstudquar.39.4.0996
  • Journal Name: ARAB STUDIES QUARTERLY
  • Journal Indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, American History and Life, Arab World Research Source, ATLA Religion Database, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Religion and Philosophy Collection, vLex
  • Page Numbers: pp.996-1017
  • Istanbul University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This article considers religious, social, political, and economic dimensions of the Saudi-Wahhabi state imagination. Since the inception, the Saudi state has relied on two main pillars: the monarchy and Wahhabism, which have been in a symbiotic relationship. In time, the state imagination in Saudi Arabia has been determined and reconstructed by factors like Wahhabism, monarchism, rentierism, internal and international political and economic obligations, and modernization efforts imposed by being a "nation state." Those factors made Saudi Arabia a sui generis state. The legitimacy of the monarchy has been ensured through tribalism and, on a larger scale, religion. Foreign aid, booties, oil revenues, and, on a rather insignificant scale, tax revenues have created a material infrastructure to build citizenship.