Dubai: Gilded Cage

Dubai: Gilded Cage [Syed Ali] on leondumoulin.nl *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In less than two decades, Dubai has transformed itself from an obscure.
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In less than two decades, Dubai has transformed itself from an obscure Gulf emirate into a global center for business, tourism, and luxury living. It is a fascinating case study in light-speed urban development, hyperconsumerism, massive immigration, and vertiginous inequality. Its rulers have succeeded in making Dubai into a worldwide brand, publicizing its astonishing ho In less than two decades, Dubai has transformed itself from an obscure Gulf emirate into a global center for business, tourism, and luxury living.

Its rulers have succeeded in making Dubai into a worldwide brand, publicizing its astonishing hotels and leisure opportunities while at the same time successfully downplaying its complex policies towards guest workers and suppression of dissent. In this enormously readable book, Syed Ali delves beneath the dazzling surface to analyze how—and at what cost—Dubai has achieved such success.

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Ali brings alive a society rigidly divided between expatriate Westerners living self-indulgent lifestyles on short-term work visas, native Emiratis who are largely passive observers and beneficiaries of what Dubai has become, and workers from the developing world who provide the manual labor and domestic service needed to keep the emirate running, often at great personal cost.

Paperback , pages. Published June 1st by Yale University Press first published To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.


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To ask other readers questions about Dubai , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Jan 25, Anne rated it it was ok Shelves: Though helpful, I find it hard to believe that this is a book written by an academic and published by Yale University Press. The quality is lacking.

I think my biggest frustration with the book is the organization. It feels like it was written quickly and could use more revision as well as more rigorous fieldwork and research. As it stands, the chapters wander and the majority of his sources are interviews and periodicals, from which he makes what appear to be a lot of generalizations though no Though helpful, I find it hard to believe that this is a book written by an academic and published by Yale University Press. As it stands, the chapters wander and the majority of his sources are interviews and periodicals, from which he makes what appear to be a lot of generalizations though not untrue, from my own experience there.

Ultimately, though a book on Dubai is needed in the current moment, and it does important work in highlighting the economic and social conditions of Dubai and the UAE.


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Aug 25, GeoLyceum rated it it was amazing. Syed Ali, an associate professor of sociology at LIU Brooklyn and expert in issues of migration and ethnic identity, has written an engaging book about the motley mix of native Emiratis, expats, and neo-serfs who populate the international playground of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

This book is suitable for the general reader: Ali cites Western and Gulf media Dr. Ali cites Western and Gulf media as well as NGO and scholarly works in addition to the participant observations and interviews he carried out.

Dubai: Gilded Cage - Syed Ali - Google Книги

It is more ethnographic and sociological than the Library of Congress book "Persian Gulf states: Ali's purpose in writing this book was to answer the question "how does the kafala sponsorship system affect living and working conditions for expats and nationals? To answer that question, he takes us on a brief tour of Dubai's history and economy, stressing the paramount importance of trade always and now tourism, transshipment, and communications.

Trade has always been both legal and illegal, including smuggling, human trafficking prostitution included , and laundering money for terrorism. There are two levels of expats: Professionals have more protections, but they are still not citizens. What keeps them in check is the desire not to jeopardize their lifestyles, which are "plastic," "shallow," and "consumerist" and proud of it.

The kafala system keeps foreign workforces under control because labor and residency permits are tied to employers. The temporariness leads to a situation where Ali notes that superficiality of interaction is common; everpresent is the implicit threat of deportation. The bargain they make is live nicely, but no political activity and no claims on the state. He doesn't mention it, but the unspoken draw for these people is the opportunity to live as if they were British East India Company nabobs, something that would not be possible in their homelands.

Art, culture, and higher education are late introductions for this group; it is possible to spend one's entire working life and have and raise children here without ever truly belonging. The second generation is particularly rootless, living " in Dubai but not of Dubai" even if born there. Connections are to family instead of place, and backup countries of residence are preferably in the West.

In return, they give allegiance to the sheik and are strangers in their own land, invisible economically, politically, and culturally.

Dubai: Gilded Cage

Their culture is mostly hidden, as it is relational and interactional. There's a distinct pecking order: Dubai is a brand, and is managed as such -- crackdowns occur when activities threaten the brand. Labor exploitation is addressed only when it threatens to harm the brand's reputation: So why do temporary, disposable workers stay? Workers at the lower end of the spectrum are often both in debt and responsible for remittances that keep families back home afloat. Furthermore, in the kafala system, passport seizure by employers is common, and pay is often months in arrears.

Ali ends on a cautionary note: May 10, Qweilo rated it it was amazing. In writing Dubai, Gilded Cage Syed Ali covers subjects that could be dry and, for lack of a better word, boring.

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He has however taken this book and made readable, interesting and enjoyable without "dumbing it down. I think this book is much like Marketplace on NPR. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. The Early Morning Phonecall. Development, Administration and Aid in the Middle East.

The Europeanisation of Contested Statehood.

Dubai: Gilded Cage by Syed Ali

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