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The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by regime operatives shocked the international community and tarnished the reputation of the young, reformist Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. This book situates the murder in the context of the duality of reform and repression and challenges common wisdom about the inevitability of the latter. The author dismisses defunct views about the inescapable 'Oriental Despotism' as the only pathway to genuine reform in the country. Focusing on the prince's divisive domestic, social and economic reforms, the author argues that the current wave of unprecedented repression is a function of the prince consolidating his power outside of the traditional consensus of royal family members and influential Saudi groups.

Introduction: the 'woman question' in Saudi Arabia -- From religious revival to religious nationalism -- Schooling women: the state as benevolent educator -- Symbols of piety: fatwa on women in the 1980s -- The quest for cosmopolitan modernity -- Women in search of themselves -- Celebrity women novelists and the cosmopolitan fantasy -- Guarding self and nation: women preachers and activists -- Conclusion: light at the end of the tunnel

Introduction: debating religion and politics in the twenty-first century -- Consenting subjects: official Wahhabi religio-political discourse -- Re-enchanting politics: Sahwis from contestation to co-optation -- Struggling in the way of God abroad: from localism to transnationalism -- Struggling in the way of God at home: the politics and poetics of jihad -- Debating Salafis: Lewis Atiyat Allah and the jihad obligation -- Searching for the unmediated word of God.

This book challenges the definitions of globalisation and transnationalism as a one way process generated mainly by the Western World and the view that the latter is a twentieth century phenomenon.

The rapid ascent of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the past several years has shaken Saudi Arabia. Delegated unusual authority by his aged father, King Salman, the crown prince has promised bold steps to modernize the economy and loosen social restrictions on youth and women. Yet his actions on these fronts have been overshadowed by his ruthless moves to intimidate rivals to the throne and silence dissidents at home and abroad. Mohammed's aggressive foreign policies have also caused many to question his judgment. Now the COVID-19 pandemic and a fall in the oil market have added to the kingdom's discontents.

A young crown prince has promised bold steps to loosen social restrictions, even while ruthlessly silencing critics and systematically eliminating rivals to the throne.