Autocratization, Emotions and Identity in Saudi Arabia
Last September, Antonia Thies, doctoral candidate in the DFG Research Training Group on ‘Sentimentality in Literature, Culture, and Politics’ embarked on her second of three field researches to the Gulf, this time to Saudi Arabia. Embedded within the research activities of the Chair of Middle East Politics and Society, which is particularly devoted towards context- and culture-sensitive research, she investigated new forms of autocratization in light of state-led emotion- and affect-mobilizing strategies. The sentimental narratives of a joint nation, cultural heritage and collective identity identified serve as regime-stabilizing mechanisms by fostering affective ties between the population and the Saudi royal family. Furthermore, through affect-ethnographic observation, Antonia Thies succeeded in tracing actual contemporary identity constructions that offer valuable insights into the self-understanding of Saudi society.
