| Summary/Abstract |
Over the past decade, all six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have invested considerably in the development of their local heritage industries. In parallel, these states have expanded their efforts at fostering home-grown nationalism. What scholarship exists on the topic of expansion of the heritage industry tends to be anthropological, sociological, or linked to museum studies, while literature on nationalism tends to remain in the realm of political science. This article addresses disciplinary gaps by taking special account of the state’s role in producing heritage and culture to foster nationalism. This development has been neglected or taken for granted in past studies of heritage production and preservation in the Gulf, and therefore deserves more substantial academic inquiry. In the first part of this article, we assess ways in which the Arabian Peninsula provides a unique environment for the study of heritage sites, before looking at how different actors, including grassroots initiatives and more substantially the state, engage in heritage production to promote select narratives about citizens’ shared history and common identity. In so doing, this piece offers a critical reflection on the ongoing processes through which heritage-making, political power, and nation-building are uniquely intertwined in the GCC.
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