Poet and businessman: Abd al-Aziz al-Babtain and the formation of modern Kuwait
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A history of contemporary Kuwait as seen through the life of an individual Kuwaiti. This book reviews and analyzes the modern history of Kuwait through the life of Abd al-Aziz Sa'ud al-Babtain, a wealthy businessman, philanthropist, and poet. He is the head of a large, influential international cultural foundation based in Kuwait City. Abd al-Aziz's life story tightly interweaves with modern discussions on the history of the state of Kuwait. There are very few books taking a collective grip on the history of the state of Kuwait. Likewise, there are very few studies about the generation of Gulf individuals who experienced, benefitted from, and even suffered from the discovery of oil, and who has been a crucial part of socioeconomic and cultural developments in countries like Kuwait in recent history. By constructing a cohesive overview of the modern history of Kuwait enriched by the life of an individual that has lived through the better part of that particular history, this book fills a lacuna in contemporary scholarship on the Middle East, and especially the Arabian or the Persian Gulf.
Table of Contents
1. THE STATE OF KUWAIT AND ABD AL-AZIZ SA‘UD AL-BABTAIN
Abd al-Aziz al-Babtain: businessman and poet
Introducing Kuwait, the life of al-Babtain and the al-Babtain Foundation
The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and identity insecurity
The National Assembly and the politics of citizenship:
gender, statelessness and tribal traditions
A second war in the Gulf 24 Studying Kuwait and Abd al-Aziz al-Babtain
2. ARABS, TRIBES, THE DESERT AND OIL:
ACKGROUND AND KEY THEMES
The notion of being Arab
Tribal history and the founding of Kuwait
Escape from the Najd
Desert, depression and downturn
The game-changing discovery of oil: the opportunity for entrepreneurship
3. SETTING THE SCENE: THE FOUNDING OF MODERN KUWAIT
Early years of the oil industry: political and economic changes
Property, the State, Islam and Arabism
The emergence of the State of Kuwait: from Sheikh Mubarak to Sheikh Abd Allah
Transformed by wealth: changes for government and citizens alike
4. KUWAIT ON THE WAY UP: THE WORLD OF AL-BABTAIN
A fertile business environment
The financial services rush
A society in flux: citizenship laws, limitations, difference and identity
A loss of heritage? Kuwaiti culture and the diwaniya
Crafting Kuwaiti citizens: the rise of a welfare state for nationals
Developing healthcare
From local to global media
Education: schooling modern Kuwaitis
5. KUWAIT EXPERIENCING CHALLENGES: THE SUCCESS OF AL-BABTAIN
1960s boom and 1970s chaos: the desire to diversify and industrialize
Speculation and Kuwait’s nouveau riche
Crash and aftermath
War in the Gulf
A state on its knees, and an exodus
The international community and an end to the war
6. CONTEMPORARY KUWAIT AND THE AL-BABTAIN FOUNDATION
Developments after the liberation of Kuwait
Economic recovery after the Gulf wars
Striving to become a major financial centre
The al-Babtain Foundation: aid programmes and foreign policy
Kuwaiti politics and uprisings in the Middle East
Politics, Islamists and the quest for democratization
Demography and Kuwait’s migrant workers
Women in Kuwaiti society: political participation
7. ABD AL-AZIZ AL-BABTAIN: THINKING ABOUT
A LIFE OF CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
Abd al-Aziz, Kuwait and the first scholarships
Expanding the al-Babtain Foundation
The library, changing ambitions and the “dialogue among civilizations”
The al-Babtain Foundation and the media
Promoting a culture of peace and influencing new generations
Poetry, Arab culture, Islam, identity politics and nationalism
8. FINAL REFLECTIONS
KUWAIT TIMELINE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
Publication Information
Gingko Library
ISBN
9781914983009
Keywords
History, Middle East studies, business
Recommended Citation
Stenberg, L.
(2022). Poet and businessman: Abd al-Aziz al-Babtain and the formation of modern Kuwait, p. 304.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/books/90