Millennial Dreams in Oil Economies

Job Seeking and the Global Political Economy of Labour in Oman

Crystal A. Ennis

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2025
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9781009499439
• Subtopic: Global Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book shifts the analysis of economic development in Oman from the traditional focus on oil to the perspective of labour. Focusing on the experiences of workers, jobseekers, and the governance of labour markets, Crystal A. Ennis offers a fresh perspective on regional development and rentier neoliberalism in the Gulf. Highlighting Oman's position within global capitalism, Ennis makes a compelling case for de-exceptionalising the Gulf, arguing that the region's labour markets are global and subject to similar pressures as other global economies. Moving beyond oil also allows Ennis to focus on the social conditions of Oman, where over sixty four percent of the population are under the age of thirty. Ennis offers a rich analysis of historical lineages of labour governance, class formation; and, following protests after 2011 as youth unemployment soared in the region, how authoritarian states react to public pressure and social unrest around perceived economic decline.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Series information
• Title page
• Imprints page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Maps
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• A Note on Transliteration
• List of Abbreviations
• 1 Bringing Citizen Labour into IPE Scholarship on the Gulf
• 2 Making Global Labour Markets and National Dreams
• 3 Rereading Omani Work History and Labour Market Governance
• 4 Promising Dubai in Sohar: Radical Transformations and Job Creation from Sohar to Duqm
• 5 Constructing Belonging and Contesting Economic Space
• 6 Pursuing Entrepreneurship for Employment: SMEs for Women and Youth
• Conclusion: Studying the Global Political Economy of Labour
• Bibliography
• Index