The Diwaniyya: guestroom sociability and bureaucratic brokerage in Kuwait

Update Item Information
Title The Diwaniyya: guestroom sociability and bureaucratic brokerage in Kuwait
Publication Type dissertation
School or College College of Social & Behavioral Science
Department Anthropology
Author Redman, James Clyde Allen
Date 2014-08
Description This dissertation is about men's guestrooms (sing. diwaniyya; pl. diwaniyyat or dawawin) in Kuwait and their place in the nation's unique welfare compact with its citizens. The central question guiding this research is unambiguous: Why do Kuwaiti men visit the dawawin? The answer, it is argued, lies in the nature of the distributive rentier arrangement in contemporary Kuwait that has allowed for the unprecedented expansion and utilization of these guestrooms. It is the position of this study that the creation of an inflated, underperforming bureaucracy tied to an intricate system of patronage and brokerage extending downward throughout the state from the ruling Al Sabah dynasty has created the conditions wherein actors must provide their own inroads if they are to tap into the government's vast resources. However, given the opaqueness of the Kuwait state system, the personalization of offices and institutions, and the imbalanced distribution of oil rents throughout the community, knowledge of precisely who to contact for what ends has become a regular nightly activity. Coupled with the benefits of luxury employment and subsidies that have bolstered discretionary incomes, hosting and visiting to foster and reinforce ties to governmental largess has become institutionalized in ways that have transformed these customary male guestrooms into indispensible marketplaces for facilitatory support.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Cultural anthropology; Middle Eastern Studies; Near Eastern Studies
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Doctor of Philosophy
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © James Clyde Allen Redman 2014
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 705,991 bytes
Identifier etd3/id/3107
ARK ark:/87278/s67q26m7
Setname ir_etd
ID 196675
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s67q26m7
Back to Search Results