Nationalism and Identity in Qatar after 2017: The Narrative of the New National Museum

Abstract

How are nationalism and national identity shifting in Qatar as a result of the regional crisis? This study explores whether this moment of geopolitical fluidity allows for changes in sociocultural behavior and norms among Qatari citizens. Specifically, this research uses the case study of the newly opened National Museum of Qatar to examine a state-crafted narrative of national identity and society’s response to this narrative. Our original fieldwork highlights the museum’s combination of desert and sea lifestyles to create a “unity” narrative of Qatari national identity, and explores the mixed reactions of citizens who feel varying levels of representation and inclusion in this narrative. This study concludes with a critical analysis of the malleability of national identity during times of political upheaval.

Keywords:

• Qatar
• nationalism
• identity
• National Museum of Qatar
• blockade of Qatar

Notes

1 Roberts, Qatar: Securing the Global Ambitions of a City-State (2017); Coates Ulrichsen, Qatar and the Arab Spring (2014).

2 Legrenzi, The GCC and the International Relations of the Gulf: Diplomacy, Security and Economic Coordination in a Changing Middle East (2011); Kamrava, Troubled Waters: Insecurity in the Persian Gulf (2018).

3 Amnesty International, “Gulf Dispute: Six Months on, Individuals Still Bear Brunt of Political Crisis”, 14 December 2017; Bianco and Stansfield, “The Intra-GCC Crisis: Mapping GCC Fragmentation after 2011”, International Affairs 94.3 (2018), pp. 613–35; Coates Ulrichsen, Qatar and the Gulf Crisis (2020).

4 Mitchell and Allagui, “Car Decals, Civic Rituals, and Changing Conceptions of Nationalism”, International Journal of Communication 13 (2019), pp. 1368–88; for a specific example of nationalism through local dairy production, see: Koch, “Food as a Weapon? The Geopolitics of Food and the Qatar–Gulf Rift”, Security Dialogue.

5 Al-Hammadi, “Presentation of Qatari Identity at National Museum of Qatar: Between Imagination and Reality”, Journal of Conservation and Museum Studies 16.1 (2018), pp. 1–10.

6 Davis and Gavrielides (eds), Statecraft in the Middle East: Oil, Historical Memory, and Popular Culture (1991); Erskine-Loftus, Hightower, and Al-Mulla (eds), Representing the Nation: Heritage, Museums, National Narratives and Identity in the Arab Gulf States (2016); Exell and Rico, Cultural Heritage in the Arabian Peninsula: Debates, Discourses and Practices (2014); Peutz, “Heritage in (the) Ruins”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 49.4 (2017), pp. 721–28.

7 Mitchell, Beyond Allocation: The Politics of Legitimacy in Qatar, PhD diss. (2013).

8 Crystal, Oil and Politics in the Gulf: Rulers and Merchants in Kuwait and Qatar (1995); Erskine-Loftus (ed.), Reimagining Museums: Practice in the Arabian Peninsula (2013); Erskine-Loftus (ed.), Museums and the Material World: Collecting the Arabian Peninsula (2014); Exell, Modernity and the Museum in the Arabian Peninsula (2016); Exell and Wakefield (eds), Museums in Arabia: Transnational Practices and Regional Processes.

9 Beblawi and Luciani (eds), The Rentier State (1987); Al-Mulla, Museums in Qatar: Creating Narratives of History, Economics, and Cultural Co-operation, PhD diss. (2013).

10 Luciani, “Allocation vs. Production States: A Theoretical Framework”, The Rentier State, ed. Beblawi and Luciani (1987), p. 75.

11 Davidson, The United Arab Emirates: A Study in Survival (2005); Foley, The Arab Gulf States: Beyond Oil and Islam (2010); Foley, Changing Saudi Arabia: Art, Culture, and Society in the Kingdom (2019); Herb, All in the Family: Absolutism, Revolution, and Democracy in the Middle Eastern Monarchies (1999); Moritz, “Reformers and the Rentier State: Re-Evaluating the Co-Optation Mechanism in Rentier State Theory”, Journal of Arabian Studies 8.1 (2018), pp. 46–64; Okruhlik, “Rentier Wealth, Unruly Law, and the Rise of Opposition: The Political Economy of Oil States”, Comparative Politics 31 (1999), pp. 295–315; Okruhlik, “Rethinking the Politics of Distributive States: Lessons from the Arab Uprisings”, Oil States in the New Middle East: Uprisings and Stability, ed. Selvik and Utvik (2016), pp. 18–38; Valeri, Oman: Politics and Society in the Qaboos State (2009); Gengler and Mitchell, “A Hard Test of Individual Heterogeneity in Response Scale Usage: Evidence from Qatar”, International Journal of Public Opinion Research 30.1 (2018), pp. 102–24; Gengler, Shockley, and Ewers, “Refinancing the Rentier State: Welfare, Inequality, and Citizen Preferences toward Fiscal Reform in the Gulf Oil Monarchies”, Comparative Politics (2020); Mitchell and Gengler, “What Money Can’t Buy: Wealth, Inequality, and Economic Satisfaction in the Rentier State”, Political Research Quarterly 72.1 (2019), pp. 75–89.

12 Babar, “Population, Power, and Distributional Politics in Qatar”, Journal of Arabian Studies 5.2 (2015), pp. 139–40; Mitchell and Gengler, “What Money Can’t Buy”, p. 79.

13 Govt of Qatar, Qatar National Vision 2030 (2008).

14 Al-Ghanim, “Istirātījiyyat al-tanmiyyat al-waṭaniyyat li dawlat Qaṭar, 2011–2016: murājiʿat naqdiyya”, Al-Shaʿb yurīd al-iṣlāḥ fī Qaṭar … ayḍa, ed. Al-Kuwari (2012), pp. 109–16.

15 Al-Malki, “Public Policy and Identity”, Policy-Making in a Transformative State: The Case of Qatar, ed. Tok, Alkhater, and Pal (2016), p. 265.

16 Al-Hammadi, “Presentation of Qatari Identity”, pp. 3–5; Mitchell and Curtis, “Old Media, New Narratives: Repurposing Inconvenient Artifacts for the National Museum of Qatar”, Journal of Arabian Studies 8.2 (2018), pp. 210–13.

17 Bibby, Looking for Dilmun (1970), pp. 125–26; Nagy, “Making Room for Migrants, Making Sense of Difference: Spatial and Ideological Expressions of Social Diversity in Urban Qatar”, Urban Studies 43.1 (2006), pp. 119–37; Shockley and Gengler, “Marriage Market Preferences: A Conjoint Survey Experiment in the Arab Gulf”, paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA, 31 August – 3 September 2017.

18 Alshawi and Gardner, “Tribalism, Identity and Citizenship in Contemporary Qatar”, Anthropology of the Middle East 8.2 (2013), p. 55.

19 Nagy, “Making Room for Migrants”, p. 129.

20 Ibid.

21 Crystal, Oil and Politics in the Gulf; Field, The Merchants: The Big Business Families of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States (1985), pp. 247–64; Al-Hammadi, “Presentation of Qatari Identity”, p. 4.

22 Al-Mulla, “History of Slaves in Qatar: Social Reality and Contemporary Political Vision”, Journal of History Culture and Art Research 6.4 (2017), pp. 85–111.

23 Mitchell and Allagui, “Car Decals”.

24 Partrick, “Nationalism in the Gulf States”, The Transformation of the Gulf: Politics, Economics and the Global Order, ed. Held and Ulrichsen (2012), pp. 47–65.

25 Govt of Qatar, “Law No. 38 of 2005 on the Acquisition of Qatari Nationality” (2005).

26 Al-Kuwari, “Muqaddima”, Al-Shaʿb yurīd al-iṣlāḥ fī Qaṭar … ayḍa, ed. Al-Kuwari (2012), p. 15.

27 Crystal, Oil and Politics in the Gulf, p. 113.

28 Ibid., pp. 116–18.

29 Commins, The Gulf States: A Modern History (2012), p. 150; Crystal, Oil and Politics in the Gulf, p. 5.

30 Al-Hammadi, “Presentation of Qatari Identity”, p. 5.

31 Mitchell et al., “In Majaalis Al-Hareem: The Complex Professional and Personal Choices of Qatari Women”, DIFI Family Research and Proceedings 4 (2015); Shockley and Gengler, “The Micro-foundations of Patriarchy: Spouse Selection Preferences in the Arab Gulf”, presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA, 31 August – 3 September 2017.

32 Mitchell, “Beyond Allocation”, pp. 147–48, 300–02; Al-Sayed, “Opinion: Will Qatar Finally See Legislative Elections?”, Doha News, 16 May 2013.

33 Al-Mulla, “The Development of the First Qatar National Museum”, Cultural Heritage in the Arabian Peninsula: Debates, Discourses and Practices, ed. Exell and Rico (2014), pp. 117–25.

34 Crystal, Oil and Politics in the Gulf, pp. 161–64; Al-Mulla, Museums in Qatar; Spivak, In Other Worlds: Essays in Cultural Politics (1988), pp 118–33.

35 Al-Mulla, Museums in Qatar.

36 Al-Hammadi, “Presentation of Qatari Identity”, p. 2.

37 Al-Malki, “Public Policy and Identity”, p. 252.

38 Mitchell and Curtis, “Old Media, New Narratives”, p. 214; Mitchell, “We’re All Qataris Here: The Nation-Building Narrative of the National Museum of Qatar”, Representing the Nation: Heritage, Museums, National Narratives and Identity in the Arab Gulf States, ed. Erskine-Loftus, Hightower, and Al-Mulla (2016), pp. 59–72.

39 cooke, Tribal Modern: Branding New Nations in the Arab Gulf (2014); Bounia, “The Desert Rose as a New Symbol for the Nation: Materiality, Heritage and the Architecture of the New National Museum of Qatar”, Heritage and Society 11.3 (2018), pp. 211–28.

40 Mitchell, “We’re All Qataris Here”, p. 66.

41 Althani, Jassim the Leader: Founder of Qatar (2012); Fromherz, Qatar: A Modern History (2012); Zahlan, The Creation of Qatar (1979).

42 Al-Abdulla, A Study in Qatari-British Relations 1914–1945 (1981); Al-Abdulla et al., Qatar’s Modern and Contemporary Development: Chapters of Political, Social and Economic Development, chapter 2: “Creation and Development of Qatar until 1868”; Anscombe, The Ottoman Gulf: The Creation of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar (1997); Ibrahim, Qatar al-ḥadithat: qarāʿat fī wathāʾiq sanawāt nashāt ʾāmārat Āl Thānī 1840–1960 (2013); Al-Mansur, Al-ṭatawwur al-siyāsī li Qatar, 1916–1949 (1979); Onley, “The Politics of Protection in the Gulf: The Arab Rulers and the British Resident in the Nineteenth Century”, New Arabian Studies 6 (2004), pp. 30–92.

43 Coates Ulrichsen, “Missed Opportunities and Failed Integration in the GCC”, The GCC Crisis at One Year: Stalemate Becomes New Reality, ed. Azzam and Harb (2018), pp. 49–58.

44 Gengler and Al-Khelaifi, “Crisis, State Legitimacy, and Political Participation in a Non-Democracy: How Qatar Withstood the 2017 Blockade”, Middle East Journal 73.3 (2019), pp. 397–416; Mitchell and Allagui, “Car Decals”.

45 Al-Hammadi, “Presentation of Qatari Identity”, p. 1. This concern is shared by Al-Malki, “Public Policy and Identity”.

46 For example, in September 2017, the Amir H.H. Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani used his UN General Assembly speech to declare, “Allow me, on this occasion and from this podium, to express my pride in my Qatari people, along with the multinational and multicultural residents in Qatar”. This quote was subsequently displayed throughout the country, in newspapers, billboards, art exhibits, and commercial websites. See: Mitchell and Curtis, “Old Media, New Narratives”, p. 237.

47 Al-Hammadi, “Presentation of Qatari Identity”, p. 6.

48 Maziad, “Qatar: Cultivating ‘the Citizen’ of the Futuristic State”, Representing the Nation: Heritage, Museums, National Narratives and Identity in the Arab Gulf States, ed. Erskine-Loftus, Hightower, and Al-Mulla (2016), pp. 123–40.

49 Al-Kuwari, “Muqaddima”; Al-Malki, “Public Policy and Identity”, pp. 254–55.

50 Maziad, “Qatar: Cultivating ‘the Citizen’”.

51 Al-Mulla, Museums in Qatar.

52 Shaikh Faisal bin Jassim Al Thani, oral history, National Museum of Qatar. Mitchell museum visit, 29 April 2019.

53 Jumaan Bashir Al-Hamad, oral history, National Museum of Qatar. Mitchell museum visit, 29 April 2019.

54 Ahmad Abdullah Al-Sulaiti, oral history, National Museum of Qatar. Mitchell museum visit, 29 April 2019.

55 Sultan Rashid Al-Hitmi, oral history, National Museum of Qatar. Mitchell museum visit, 29 April 2019.

56 Sharifa Hassan Al-Muhannadi, oral history, National Museum of Qatar. Mitchell museum visit, 16 April 2019.

57 Benstead, “Effects of Interviewer-Respondent Gender Interaction on Attitudes toward Women and Politics: Findings from Morocco”, International Journal of Public Opinion Research 26.3 (2014), pp. 369–83.

58 As of November 2020, there were approximately 2.7 million people in Qatar. Qataris are estimated to be around 330,000–350,000 of this population, although official numbers are unpublished.

59 Mitchell, “Transnational Identity and the Gulf Crisis: Changing Narratives of Belonging in Qatar”, presented at the Gulf Research Meeting, Cambridge, UK, 15–18 July 2019; Koch, “Is Nationalism Just for Nationals? Civic Nationalism for Noncitizens and Celebrating National Day in Qatar and the UAE”, Political Geography 54 (2016), pp. 43–53; Mitchell and Allagui, “Car Decals”; Vora and Koch, “Everyday Inclusions: Rethinking Ethnocracy, Kafala, and Belonging in the Arabian Peninsula”, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism 15.3 (2015), pp. 540–52.

60 After their interviews, all interviewees were presented with a list of identity labels and were asked whether they wanted to choose any that signified part of their identity. These terms included various levels of tribal identity (tribe, section of a tribe, family) as well as badū, ḥaḍar, badū-mutaḥaḍar [badū that became ḥaḍar], and muhajin [dualistic]. Only a few of the interviewees labeled themselves with these terms without caveats, showing the sensitivity of public discussion of these social distinctions.

61 Interview with Lulu, 21 April 2019, Doha, Qatar.

62 Interview with Khulood, 9 April 2019, Doha, Qatar.

63 Interview with Dana, 24 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

64 Interview with Shaikha, 23 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

65 Interview with Noor, 15 April 2019, Doha, Qatar.

66 Interview with Maryam, 25 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

67 Interview with Luna, 30 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

68 Interview with Sabicha, 15 April 2019, Doha, Qatar.

69 Interview with Layal, 19 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

70 Interview with Shaikha, 23 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

71 Interview with Lulu, 21 April 2019, Doha, Qatar.

72 Interview with Noora, 13 May 2019, Doha, Qatar.

73 Interview with Shaikha, 23 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

74 Interview with Layal, 19 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

75 Interview with Fatima, 24 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

76 Interview with Khulood, 9 April 2019, Doha, Qatar.

77 Interview with Shaikha, 23 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

78 Interview with Dana, 24 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

79 Interview with Layal, 19 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

80 Interview with Dana, 24 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

81 Mitchell, “We’re All Qataris Here”, pp. 62–3.

82 Interview with Lulu, 21 April 2019, Doha, Qatar.

83 Interview with Fatima, 24 September 2019, Doha, Qatar.

84 Al-Malki, “Public Policy and Identity”, p. 267.

85 Ibid, p. 267.

86 Our interviews were conducted before the final gallery, “Qatar Today”, opened in December 2019. A visit to this gallery by Mitchell on 16 January 2020 provided preliminary evidence of a civic nationalism narrative that seeks to include both Qataris and expatriate residents. However, the shutdown of the museum in March 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns has prevented us from further research on the general public’s perceptions of this gallery. As well, our current study’s focus is on the retelling of Qatari history and heritage, rather than the depiction of modern-day Qatari society.

87 Govt of Qatar, Qatar National Development Strategy 2011–2016 (2011), p. 171.

88 Mitchell, “The Domestic Policy Opportunities of an International Blockade”, The Gulf Crisis: The View from Qatar, ed. Miller (2018), pp. 58–68.

89 Govt of Qatar, “HH the Amir Issues a Decree Extending the Term of Shura Council” (2019); Kerr, “Qatar Sets Date for Long-Promised Elections”, Financial Times, 3 November 2020.

90 Foxman and Al-Lawati, “Qatar Prepares for Legislative Elections After 15-Year Delay”, Bloomberg, 31 October 2019.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jocelyn Sage Mitchell

Jocelyn Sage Mitchell is Assistant Professor in Residence, Northwestern University in Qatar, PO Box 34102, Doha, Qatar

Mariam Ibrahim Al-Hammadi

Mariam Ibrahim Al-Hammadi is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar, [email protected].