GRM 2010 Report - Centre of Islamic Studies - University of ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Workshop 5: Population, Labor Markets and National Identity Dr. Steffen Hertog Sciences-Po, Paris Dr. Rola Dashti Kuwait Economic Society The workshop on population, labor markets and national identity in the GCC was almost by definition an interdisciplinary undertaking, touching on concerns of political science, economics, demography, anthropology and geography. Major themes discussed include the demographic imbalances of the region and the socio-cultural and economic tensions resulting, attempts to address the imbalances through policies to nationalize local workforces, and the normative and policy implications of these problems. The majority of participants were political scientists, but the workshop also included representatives of the disciplines of geography and philosophy as well as a practitioner from the human resources field. Contributions included both concrete case studies based on field research and original data, and more conceptual and theoretical papers with a comparative and disciplinary ambition. Over the two days, the discussion congealed around a number of preliminary conclusions on the costs of price vs. regulation-oriented labor market nationalization approaches, the importance of differentiating types of migrants (whose socio-economic impact can be very different), and the normative tensions between migrants’ rights and economic opportunities provided by open GCC labor markets. The first day opened with a presentation by Ayman Zohry on “Migration and National Identity in the Arab Gulf Countries: The Case of the UAE.” Ayman provided a detailed statistical overview of the unique demographic situation in the UAE and, importantly, its individual emirates. It was followed by Nadine Scharfenort’s paper on “Citizenship vs. National Identity? Local Society in Transition?” which gave a survey of socio-economic and cultural tensions resulting from the local demographic situation in the GCC. Both papers led to a lively discussion about issues of demographic data in the Gulf and the implications of demographic differences between the six cases. Gulf Research Meeting – July 2010 59
60 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting Javita Narang’s presentation was entitled “Children Born without a National Identity?” and provided detailed case studies of stateless children in the Gulf born out of wedlock to foreign mothers. A major theme of the subsequent discussion was how the situation of these children might be improved without encouraging the phenomenon to spread. Tracy Ann Scholl’s talk about “Ethics of Care in GCC Labor Law and Practices” represented an attempt at finding a normative framework more appropriate to what are perceived as unmeritocratic employment practices in the Gulf, proposing the “ethics of care” as an alternative to conventional Western theories of justice. The discussion focused on different forms of nepotism, different dimensions of “care” and the potential practical implications of such a normative shift. Manal Jamal then delivered a presentation about “Nationality and the Construction of Citizenship in the UAE,” explaining the lingering impact of the UK protectorate and its past geopolitical interests on today’s citizenship policies in the smaller Gulf emirates. Issues debated by the participants included potential differences in citizenship policies between smaller and larger Gulf States and the particular economic implications of naturalization in high-rent oil monarchies. The second day started with a presentation by Hasan Al-Hasan with the title “Labor Market Reform in Bahrain: a Political Tug-of-War.” It provided a detailed analysis of the interest groups and institutional modernization strategies involved in Bahrain’s recent regulatory reforms on the labor market and about what these policies tell us about Bahrain as an entrepreneurial, but also authoritarian regime. It was followed by Crystal Ennis’ paper about “The Omani Employment Environment: Examining the Impact of ‘Omanization’ policies on the private and public sectors,” which gave an overview of the employment challenges in Oman and the implementation issues of Omanization given a segmented labor market. In the discussion of both papers, questions of citizenship and how to reform labor markets without pushing nationals into poverty or discriminating against expatriates recurred. Tanwen Ellis’ talk then focused on “The Kafala System and Social Compacts in the GCC,” proposing to explain different labor reform strategies in the region with the different shape state-society relations have historically taken in smaller Gulf states. The ensuing debate centered around a number of potential alternative or complementary explanations, including rents per capita and relative demographic imbalances.
Page 2:
The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting With
Page 6:
“Creating a Bridge of Scholarly a
Page 10 and 11: Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 9.00 - 16
Page 14 and 15: Chairman of the Gulf Research Cente
Page 16: The Opening Ceremony for the 2010 G
Page 21 and 22: 20 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting S
Page 23 and 24: 22 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting m
Page 25 and 26: 24 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting O
Page 27 and 28: 26 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting I
Page 31 and 32: 30 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting T
Page 33 and 34: 32 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting R
Page 35 and 36: 34 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting D
Page 38 and 39: The Gulf Research Meeting received
Page 40: Each workshop ran over 2 to 3 days
Page 43 and 44: 42 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting l
Page 45 and 46: 44 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting n
Page 47 and 48: 46 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting W
Page 55 and 56: 54 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting M
Page 57 and 58: 56 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting o
Page 59: 58 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting S
Page 67 and 68: 66 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting o
Page 69 and 70: 68 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting G
Page 73 and 74: 72 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting b
Page 77 and 78: 76 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting t
Page 83 and 84: 82 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting P
Page 85 and 86: 84 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting T
Page 87 and 88: 86 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting a
Page 89 and 90: 88 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting p
Page 95 and 96: 94 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting e
Page 101 and 102: 100 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting
Page 111 and 112:
110 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting
Page 113 and 114:
112 The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting
Page 116:
THE GULF RESEARCH CENTER “Knowled
show all

GRM 2010 Report - Centre of Islamic Studies - University of ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?