Durham E-Theses Methods of Repression in Bahrain during the 20th and 21st Century: From the Civil List to Social Media JONES, MARC,OWEN How to cite: JONES, MARC,OWEN (2016) Methods of Repression in Bahrain during the 20th and 21st Century: From the Civil List to Social Media, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11554/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Methods of Repression in Bahrain during the 20th and 21st Century: From the Civil List to Social Media Marc Owen Jones A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy School of Government and International Affairs Durham University (November 2015) 1 Marc Owen Jones: Thesis Abstract Methods of Repression in Bahrain During the 20th and 21st Century: From the Civil List to Social Media Despite being afflicted by cyclical bouts of unrest over the past century, repression in Bahrain as a concept has not been the focus of considerable academic attention. This is the first interpretive historical and contemporary study of repression in Bahrain. It addresses the limitations of regime-type analysis and quantitative studies of repression, which tend to focus on the co-variation between repression and demobilization. Using a template analysis, a virtual ethnography and framing theory, this thesis offers a new conceptualisation of repression. Several episodes of contention in Bahrain are analysed, including; tribal resistance to the British reforms of the 1920s, the rise of the Higher Executive Committee in the 1950s, the leftist agitation of the 1970s, the 1990s Intifada, and the 2001 Uprising. Using evidence from multiple sources, including recently released Foreign and Commonwealth Office files, social media, and historical records, this thesis argues that Bahrain's protecting powers have had a marked impact on the severity, nature and type of repression in Bahrain, as well as the structure of the repressive apparatus. While the British mitigated the excesses of Al Khalifa's treatment of political opposition, their declining influence following Independence saw the rise of a Saudi-Al Khalifa dual authority structure that created a new approach to repressive choices. Crucially, Bahrain's protecting powers influenced the nature and type of repression that was applied to political opposition. Yet despite this meta- narrative of outside influence, this research complicates generalisable theories of repression, showing that repressive choices are often contingent on a complex mix of the availability of resources, elite attitudes, strategic objectives of power holders, and the nature of threat. For this reason, the research sheds light on repression in Bahrain, but also highlights the value of conducting case studies and long term studies that allow researchers to compare and contrast the reasons motivating repressive choices. The new conceptualisation also emphasises the rising importance of social media and rhizomatic actors as tools of repression. 2 Contents Notes on Transliteration.............................................................................................7 List of Figures............................................................................................................8 Abbreviations.............................................................................................................9 Acknowledgements..................................................................................................10 Statement of Copyright............................................................................................11 Dedication................................................................................................................12 Introduction: Repression in Bahrain in the 20th & 21st Century.......................................13 Repression in Bahrain........................................................................................... 13 Defining Repression: Breadth or Depth?...............................................................18 Chapter Outlines....................................................................................................22 Chapter One) Theory & Justification: Shifting Hegemony, Sovereign Insecurity, and a Template for Repression …................................................................................................25 1.1 Repression, Regime Type & Repressive Capacity.......................................... 25 Regime Distinctiveness: Between the Sovereign and Suzerain...............27 1.2 The Case for Historical, Fine-Grained Studies of Repression....................... 30 1.3 A Template for Conceptualising Repression................................................... 34 Political Statecraft.....................................................................................38 Personal Integrity Violations....................................................................43 Legal Repression......................................................................................46 Informational Control ….........................................................................50 1.4 Stylized Relation between Repressive Methods and their Effects................53 Chapter Two) Methodology: Template Analysis, Social Justice, & Interpretive History...59 2.1 Transformative Paradigm and Evidence-Based Activist Research..................59 2.2 Template Analysis and Interpretive Historical Sociology................................61 History & Current Events through the Conceptual Lens of Repression...61 An Emergent Academic Tradition?...........................................................63 Template Analysis: Codes of Repression..................................................64 2.3 Gathering Data................................................................................................66 3 From Historical Documents to Tweets.....................................................66 Virtual Ethnography.................................................................................70 Framing....................................................................................................73 Chapter Three) Political Statecraft: From Democratisation to Discord.......................... 78 3.1 Feudal Entitlement, Internal Factionalism, Co-optation and the Civil List.....78 Legacy of the Civil List & other Forms of Restraining the Al Khalifa...79 3.2 Rewards, Makramāt and Sanctions............................................................... 84 Rentierism and Patronage.........................................................................84 Decling British Influence..........................................................................85 Growing Saudi Influence..........................................................................86 3.4 Sanctioning and the Withdrawing of 'Privilege' ….........................................91 Privilege Deprivation...............................................................................92 Employment and Educational............................ …..................................93 3.5 Insulation.........................................................................................................98 Exile..........................................................................................................98 3.6 Shaping Civil Society....................................................................................105 Removal of Citizenship and Naturalisation............................................105 Selective Recruitment.............................................................................109 Towards Shiʿa Containment....................................................................110 Political Amnesties, Taming Revolutionaries, & 'Benevolent' Change..111 GONGOisation , Upgrading and Co-optation........................................115 3.7 Fragment, Polarise, Stratify and Conquer.....................................................117 Attitudes to the Shia post-2011................................................................120 3.8 Reform as Repression: Grievance Removal, Administrative Reform, Democratisation...................................................................................................125 Towards Facade Democracy: A Faulty Safety Valve..............................131 Conclusion..............................................................................................134 Chapter Four) Personal Integrity Violations and Policing................................................135 4.1 Policing: The Struggle Between Force and Consent …................................136 A Brief History …..................................................................................136 4.2 Poor Quality of Recruits: Mercenaries, Baltajiyya, and Foreigners..............138