Life Worlds of Middle Eastern Oil: Histories and Ethnographies of Black Gold

Abstract

Studies how oil has shaped the societies and cultures of the modern and contemporary Middle EastProposes a new research agenda for the study of oil's varied lives in the modern and contemporary Middle EastIncludes 13 case studies, including 2 photo essays by leading artists and designersTakes a thematic approach to promote interdisciplinary thinkingPresents contributions from leading historians and anthropologists, world-renown artists, curators and designers, and younger scholars who are developing an outstanding research portfolio on oilThis volume explores the ways petroleum as an industry and substance has moulded the social, cultural and artistic life of the Middle East. Rather than tackle the powers of this crucial resource from the perspective of macro-economics, impersonal rentier states and large corporations, this book 'brings oil back' into the ebbs and flows of Middle Eastern life. It focuses on the ways petroleum mediates and is mediated by national formations and imaginaries, visual practices, as well as scientific, business and artistic production. In focusing on the largest oil producing and exporting region in the world, this volume sheds light on the effects and affects of petroleum's presence within and beyond the oil-industry.Part 1 – Exposing Oil sets out the main themes through which oil is analysed in the volume (visibility, experience, representation and mediation). Part 2 – Oil Images deals with image making by the oil industry (as graphs, aerial photographs and promotional media) and by artists and designers who have engaged with, and commented on, oil's presence in the region. Part 3 – Oil Subjects focuses on the production of (oil) subjecthood and the formation of oil knowledge