Module ARA3163 for 2018/9
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
ARA3163: Politics and Reform in the Gulf
This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.
Module Aims
The module aims to provide an understanding of political dynamics in the Gulf states in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. The core focus of the module is the debate over whether authoritarianism is likely to persist in the region, or whether recent political developments in the region bear witness of the beginning of a so-called ‘Gulf spring.’ Moreover this module is designated to provide you with a better and nuanced understanding of the individual regimes in contemporary Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf in comparative perspective. A further aim of the course is to develop your analytical thinking skills as independent researchers and to develop intellectual ability to place issues discussed in a wider context, beyond common knowledge immediately available in the media.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate an ability to locate, appraise and use main sources of information and data relating to the Gulf states' politics; 2. demonstrate an understanding of the main issues in the politics of the Gulf, including the politics of reform; 3. demonstrate a grasp of different analytical approaches towards the study of the Gulf's political systems, and an ability to make informed judgements regarding the similarities and contrasts of different Gulf polities; |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. demonstrate an ability to analyse political factors and dynamics comparatively, drawing from broader concepts in comparative politics and democratisation; 5. demonstrate an ability to draw on the wider area studies sources and literature relating to the Gulf region; |
| Personal and Key Skills | 6. demonstrate skills of reasoned and supported argumentation in writing and in oral presentation; 7. demonstrate skills of independent research and teamwork; and 8. demonstrate skills of finding, analysing and synthesising information from a range of sources. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
- Introduction and module organisation; traditional socio-political characteristics and dynamics of the Gulf states.
- The politics of oil and rent in the Gulf; historical review of political reform trends in the Gulf
- Politics and Reform in Saudi Arabia
- Politics and Reform in Kuwait
- Politics and Reform in Bahrain
- Politics and Reform in Oman
- Politics and Reform in Qatar and the UAE
- Politics and Reform in Iran
- Politics and Reform in Iraq
- Media, women and human rights in the Gulf
- Conclusions: towards democratisation or liberalised autocracy?
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 128 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity | 13 | Lectures and convenor-facilitated discussions regarding materials covered in lecture |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity | 9 | Group presentations and class discussion regarding presentations |
| Guided Independent Study | 33 | Reading for class; |
| Guided Independent Study | 95 | Preparing for assignments through researching, planning and writing an essay. |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class discussion | Weekly, during lectures | 1-5, 7-8 | Direct feedback in seminar |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 group presentations | 50 | 15-20 minutes each + 2 page document summarising main points | 1-8 | Written feedback |
| Essay | 50 | 2500 words | 1-5,7-8 | Written feedback |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group presentation | Individual presentation to module convenor | 1-8 | August/September reassessment period |
| Essay | Essay (2500 words) | 1-5, 7-8 | August/September reassessment period |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Aarts, Paul and Carolien Roelants. Saudi Arabia: Kingdom in Peril (London: Hurst, 2015).
Abrahamian, Ervand. A History of Modern Iran (Cambridge University Press, 2008)
Al-Rasheed, Madawi. A History of Saudi Arabia (Cambridge University Press, 2002; 2nd ed.: 2010).
Al-Rasheed, Madawi. A Most Masculine State. Gender, Politics and Religion in Saudi Arabia (Cambridge University Press, 2013).
Axworthy, Michael. Revolutionary Iran. A History of the Islamic Republic (London: Penguin, 2014).
Ayubi, Nazih. Over-stating the Arab State: politics and society in the Middle East(London: I.B. Tauris, 1995).
Beblawi, Hazem and Giacomo Luciani (eds.). The Rentier State (London: Croom Helm, 1987).
Crystal, Jill. Oil and Politics in the Gulf: Rulers and Merchants in Kuwait and Qatar (Cambridge University Press, 1995).
Davidson, Christopher (ed.). Power and Politics in the Persian Gulf Monarchies (London: Hurst, 2012).
Davidson, Christopher. After the Sheikhs. The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies (London: Hurst, 2012).
Dresch, Paul. Tribes, Government and History in Yemen (Oxford University Press, 1993).
Ehteshami, Anoushiravan & Steven Wright (eds.). Reform in the Middle East Oil Monarchies (Reading: Ithaca Press, 2008).
Gause, F. Gregory. Oil Monarchies: Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States (New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1994).
Hanieh, Adam. Capitalism and Class in the Gulf Arab States (London: Palgrave McMillan, 2011).
Herb, Michael. All in the Family. Absolutism, Revolution and Democratic Prospects in the Middle Eastern Monarchies (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999).
Herb, Michael. The Wages of Oil. Parliaments and Economic Development in the UAE and Kuwait (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2014).
Hertog, Steffen. Princes, Brokers, and Bureaucrats: Oil and the State in Saudi Arabia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2010).
Kamrava, Mehran. Qatar. Small States, Big Politics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013).
Kapiszewski, Andrzej. Nationals and Expatriates: Population and Labour Dilemmas of the Gulf Cooperation Council States (Reading: Ithaca Press, 2001).
Khalaf, Abdulhadi, Omar Alshehabi and Adam Hanieh. Transit States. Labour, Migration and Citizenship in the Gulf (London: Pluto Press, 2014).
Kostiner, Joseph (ed.). Middle East Monarchies (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2000).
Lackner, Helen (ed.). Why Yemen Matters: A Society in Transition (London: Saqi, 2014).
Lacroix, Stephane. Awakening Islam. The Politics of Religious Dissent in Contemporary Saudi Arabia (Harvard University Press, 2011).
Matthiesen, Toby. Sectarian Gulf. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the Arab Spring that Wasn’t (Stanford University Press, 2013).
Menoret, Pascal. Joyriding in Riyadh. Oil, Urbanism and Road Revolt (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
al-Naqeeb, Khaldun. Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula(London: Routledge, 1990).
Niblock, Tim. Saudi Arabia: Power, Legitimacy and Survival (London: Routledge, 2006).
Shehabi, Ala’a and Marc O. Jones (eds). Bahrain’s Uprising: Resistance and Repression in the Gulf (London: Zed Books, 2016).
Stansfield, Gareth. Iraq: People, History, Politics (Oxford: Polity, 2007).
Teitelbaum, Joshua (ed.). Political Liberalization in the Persian Gulf (London: I.B. Tauris, 2009).
Tetreault, Mary-Ann. Stories of Democracy: Politics & Society in Contemporary Kuwait (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000).
Valeri, Marc. Oman: Politics and Society in the Qaboos State (London: Hurst, 2009).
Zahlan, Rosemarie S. The Making of the Modern Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman (Reading: Ithaca Press, 1998).
