Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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faced with increasing world demand for oil by the industrialized world, the Saudi polity
has sought modernization of social and infrastructure developments to attain "economic
independence." In theory, industrialization involves a whole set of political, social,
demographic and economic consequences of profound magnitude which alter the physical
environment. A social revolution of this magnitude requires a supporting ideology
geared toward progressive reforms in the society's organization and critical values. In
Huntington's words,
Economic development encourages industrialization, expands transportation
and communication, spreads literacy and education, and improves
urbanization, all of which lead to a rise in political consciousness, the
mobilization of new groups into politics, and the multiplication of political
demands. 21
In the West, various democracies supplanted the older forms of oligarchy and
monarchy. In the Middle East under the aegis of colonial powers (c. late eighteenth and
the first half of the twentieth centuries), great leaps to modernization were wrought by
traditional elites vying to adapt to the changing socio-political aspirations of their
populations and economic changes brought by world market conditions. 22 As such,
modernization brought with it societal metamorphoses reflected in the emergence of the
middle class which played a vital role in the political sphere 23 In Saudi Arabia, the
emergence of the middle class owes its character to the modernization programs
orchestrated by the government. 24 The government's generous allocation of oil revenues
in modernizing the society and the built environment must be seen as a legitimizing
factor a traditionalist political system is arguably to undertake to stave-off threats to the
political status quo. 25 Commenting on the November 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque
in Mecca by Islamic insurgents, Nadaf Safiran wrote
After putting down the insurrection by force, the regime responded,
typically, with some measures designed to appease the underlying concerns
of the rebels and to enhance its image as an enforcer of tradition, and others
designed to reassure new classes, whose interests were bound with
continuing development and change. The new classes included an industrial
proletariat, a mercantile bourgeoisie, and a so-called new middle
class....Because that class has fed directly or indirectly on government
expenditures rather than being itself a major source of government revenue
through taxation, it has so far lacked the incentive that has prompted
Western bourgeoisie to seek participation in and control of political power. 26