Charity as Politics "Writ Small" in Gulf Petro-Monarchies

Abstract

I offer an overview and analysis of charitable giving in four Gulf monarchies. I explore several questions: who gives, how do they give, and to whom do they (not) give. I highlight several key findings: first, in three of the four countries, the most active and best endowed foundations have been created by (members of) ruling families or prominent political associations; second, private giving tends to concentrate on family, tribe, ethnic community; third, with few exceptions, migrant workers are excluded from access to charity. These findings suggest that charitable giving, while intrinsic to the practice of Islam, may be instrumentalized by social actors to advance particular political interests: (1) to gather information about members of society, (2) assert relationships of power, authority and control, (3) shore up allegiance (to a ruler and/or an ideology), (4) consolidate the definition of community. Hence, charity is, in large measure, a means for social management and social control. In sum, the study of charity in Gulf monarchies offers a window on the practice of politics and state-society relations.