Labour migration in the Arab Gulf states: patterns,trends and prospects

This paper presents an analysis of recent changes in the scale and characteristics of non-national migration to, and employment in, the 6 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states. In 1985, the size of the workforce in the Gulf States was 7.1 million. Non-nationals comprised 68% (in Saudi Arabia) to almost 91% (in United Arab Emirates) of the workforce. 63% of the non-nationals were from Asia. Non-national Arab workers represented 30% of the total. In 1985, 36% of all migrant workers came from India and Pakistan. Almost 30% of the non-nationals were employed in services (financial, personal, and community), and almost 29% were in construction. Non-nationals dominate 3 sectors: construction, manufacturing, and utilities. Non-nationals account for a relatively low 55% of the oil sector. The phenomenal rate of growth in non-national workforces during the mid 1970s began to slow in the 1980s. Labor permit issues peaked in the late 1970s and again in 1983-84. The timing and scale of the decline varies by sending country and by destination, reflecting variations in the rate and extent of the economic slowdown in different GCC states, as well as relative wage rates, occupational composition, and organization of the various labor flows. For example, Indian case worker placements fell by 49% between 1983 and 1986, while the number of Filipinos placed fell by 15%. During the 1980s, most Gulf states have increased efforts to enforce labor and residence regulations, but the number of illegal workers has continued to grow. During the 1st half of the 1980s, demand for non-national labor increasingly turned towards new supplies in South and Southeast Asia, notably Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Meanwhile, an increasing share of Arab and South Asian workers were renewing their work permits, often on less favorable terms. The construction sector has had the greatest decline in new labor inflows; however, the service sector is still growing. Wage rates have fallen an average of 20-30%, and up to 45% since 1983. Since 1985, about 615,000 non-national workers have left. Southeast Asian labor has been most acutely affected by the sharp downturn in economic activity. By 1990, the non-national workforce should decline to 4.36 million, but then it will increase slowly. The number and share of Southeast Asians will rise.     

Labor immigration in the Arab Gulf states: patterns,trends and problems

This is an overview of recent labor immigration in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Attention is given to factors contributing to the dependence of these countries on migrant labor, the impact of the decline in oil revenues, and future trends in the size and skill composition of the foreign labor supply.     

Contextualizing Arab female entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT

Cultural and structural challenges within the Arab context are found to constrain women’s opportunities towards entrepreneurial development and activity. In addressing the call for feminist theorizing in entrepreneurship research, we bring together gender, identity and networking into the subjective experiences of Emirati female entrepreneurs. Through antenarrative perspectives, we demonstrate that developing cooperation with men is a viable and complementary means to addressing contextual challenges and achieving empowerment. Our contribution illustrates that Emirati female entrepreneurs’ multi-layered identity work manifests in a relational manner via efforts to strategically construct opportunity by means of engaging in discursive relationships with men.     

The Attitude of the Shari'a Courts to Parental Alienation Syndrome: Understanding the Dynamics of the Syndrome in Arab Society

In addition to the many factors leading to parental alienation syndrome (PAS), including the narcissistic injury felt by the abandoned parent, or the custodial parent's personal difficulty, there are further factors unique to Arab society—including strong influence by the extended family on the child. Although all the components of PAS exist and are well known to the shari'a courts, no parallel concept is found in the Arab legal lexicon. This article presents 1 case of a shari'a court hearing that illustrates this phenomenon. The conclusions indicate that the shari'a court considers this a serious phenomenon and sees coping with the situation as an essential and preliminary condition to the custody hearing.     

Mohamed Bouazizis in the Arab World —— The Influence and Inspiration of the Youth in the Arab Upheaval

自2011年初阿拉伯剧变发生以来，关于此次剧变原因和影响的讨论莫衷一是，但不可否认的是，占人口多数、受过较高教育的青年一代在其中发挥了重要影响。该文聚焦于阿拉伯青年这一群体，分析其在此次剧变中的影响和作用。对高物价和高失业率等民生问题以及政治制度和现代化进程的不满、对新媒体的娴熟运用使阿拉伯青年成为了抗议民众中的主力。与此同时，这一群体也成为了剧变发生后影响阿拉伯国家政治、社会、经济改革和发展以及未来政局走向的重要因素、此次阿拉伯剧变中青年的角色行为对我国有一定的启示，可以从中吸取教训，未雨绸缪．     

阿拉伯的“布瓦吉吉”们——青年在阿拉伯剧变中的影响和启示

自2011年初阿拉伯剧变发生以来，关于此次剧变原因和影响的讨论莫衷一是，但不可否认的是，占人口多数、受过较高教育的青年一代在其中发挥了重要影响。该文聚焦于阿拉伯青年这一群体，分析其在此次剧变中的影响和作用。对高物价和高失业率等民生问题以及政治制度和现代化进程的不满、对新媒体的娴熟运用使阿拉伯青年成为了抗议民众中的主力。与此同时，这一群体也成为了剧变发生后影响阿拉伯国家政治、社会、经济改革和发展以及未来政局走向的重要因素、此次阿拉伯剧变中青年的角色行为对我国有一定的启示，可以从中吸取教训，未雨绸缪．     

贾希利叶时代阿拉伯人月神考述

在伊斯兰教兴起以前的贾希利亚时期,阿拉伯半岛的北方居民大多囿于原始的万物有灵和神力至上的观念,他们尊奉的主要神祗从语源上考察,与阿卡德语、阿拉米语、希伯来语、阿拉伯语等都相近.这一现象实际上反映了闪米特诸民族内在本质上的一致性.其次,奈巴特人神殿中最重要的女神拉特在罗马时期兼指金星维纳斯是受希腊-罗马神话影响的结果,而公元3世纪帕尔米拉神殿中盛行的三联神体与上古时期的苏美尔-阿卡德神谱一脉相承,则体现了鲜明的西亚星辰崇拜个性.至于阿拉伯人至今仍对新月特别钟情,则包含了一定的月神崇拜痕迹.     

中东剧变中的青年因素分析

全球经济艰难复苏之际,西亚北非的多个阿拉伯国家掀起了一场强烈的政治风暴,一批中东政治强人的政权岌岌可危。此次剧变中,青年是抗议人群的主体,也是发出改革最强音的群体。在对中东剧变的分析中,青年因素值得关注与研究。本文分析了青年成为变局主力军的主客观因素,并在此基础上,探讨了全球化背景下阿拉伯青年意识形态的发展趋势。     

Patriarchy and development in the Arab world

The author defines patriarchy in the Arab context as the prioritizing of the rights of males and elders, and the justification of those rights within kinship values which are usually supported by religion. She considers the systematic impact of patriarchy throughout Arab society in the attempt to understand the persistence of patriarchy in the Arab world. Patriarchy in the Arab world, and other regions, is an obstacle for women, children, families, and states. It affects health, education, labor, human rights, and democracy. The author argues that patriarchy is powerful in the Arab world because age-based kinship values and relationships are crucial socially, economically, politically, ideologically, and psychologically. Sections discuss social patriarchy, economic patriarchy, political patriarchy, religious patriarchy, patriarchy in the self, and development planners, practitioners, and patriarchy.     

走进阿拉伯银行

在上海市四平路188号上海商贸大厦的18楼,有一家阿拉伯银行的代表处,它是比埃及国民银行代表处更早进入上海的阿拉伯金融机构,从它的代表陈刚先生沉稳的介绍和他所提供的资料中,我们对这家来自阿拉伯世界的银行有了一个比较清晰的了解.     

The impact of emigration on national development in the Arab region: the case of the Yemen Arab Republic

"The focus of this article is the impact of emigration on national development in labor sending countries experiencing wide-scale emigration, the main contention being that, due to the characteristics of contemporary labor movements among Arab countries, there obtains a contradiction between short term benefits and long term adverse effects. The article briefly defines development, then presents empirical evidence from the Yemen Arab Republic of the negative impact of labor emigration."     

阿联酋的教育

一、概述 阿联酋自1971年独立后,教育发展迅速,尤其在扎耶德总统提出"人是国家的第一资源","唯科学技术才是进步和繁荣的途径"这一理念后,阿政府视教育发展为未来的希望,始终置教育于优先发展的地位.     

Arab Television in Academic Scholarship

Over the past 10 years, there has been an exponential increase in satellite television in the Arab world, with programming ranging from music videos to news, from reality TV programs to Islamic talk shows. Concurrent with this development has been the growth of academic scholarship on understanding the relationship between Arab television and social and political transformations in the Middle East. This article provides an overview of Arab television growth, especially that of pan‐Arab satellite channels such as Al‐Jazeera, and of scholarship about it. Academic work that focuses on theories of media globalization and the public sphere, and that is in conversation with Western journalism and global media studies, is highlighted.     

贝都因人--阿拉伯世界的精神贵族

在阿文中,贝都因人一词的意思是"逐水草而居的人",中译名有"贝都英人、贝杜因人、贝督因人"等.本文所指的贝都因人主要是指生活在阿拉伯半岛以及北非沙漠、荒原、丘陵和农村边缘地区的游牧和半游牧的阿拉伯人,他们身材颀长,鹰钩鼻,属欧罗巴人种地中海类型.     

阿拉伯世界的世俗主义与世俗化

阿拉伯世界的世俗主义是受西方的影响而产生的。19世纪中叶到20世纪中叶是阿拉伯世界世俗主义发展的第一阶段,首先在阿拉伯基督教信徒中间产生,并为阿拉伯基督教信徒和穆斯林共同发展。凯末尔领导的土耳其世俗化运动,使作为非阿拉伯国家的土耳其以其世俗主义模式影响了阿拉伯世界,很多阿拉伯国家随之走上世俗化道路。但从20世纪70年代开始,现代伊斯兰主义兴起,作为非阿拉伯国家的伊朗以其伊斯兰革命影响了阿拉伯世界现代伊斯兰主义的发展。作为对现代伊斯兰主义的回应,阿拉伯世界的世俗主义进入了第二阶段,福阿德·宰凯里亚的思想最具代表性。     

关于阿拉伯国家民主化道路的思考

在民主化进程中,阿拉伯国家并非"例外",而是滞后于世界其他地区.阿拉伯国家的民主实践呈现由弱渐强、逐步推进的趋势.但是,阿拉伯国家政治发展中的根本问题--政权产生的方式--尚没有实质性突破,面临诸多困难和挑战.阿拉伯国家的民主化道路基本上要经历一个权威政权主导下的政治自由化和有限民主化阶段.     

Role of the New Media in the Arab Spring

This article examines the role of the new media in the ‘Arab Spring’ in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It argues that although the new media is one of the factors in the social revolution among others such as social and political factors in the region, it nevertheless played a critical role especially in light of the absence of an open media and a civil society. The significance of the globalization of the new media is highlighted as it presents an interesting case of horizontal connectivity in social mobilization as well signaling a new trend in the intersection of new media and conventional media such as television, radio, and mobile phone. One of the contradictions of the present phase of globalization is that the state in many contexts facilitated the promotion of new media due to economic compulsion, inadvertently facing the social and political consequences of the new media.

Este artículo examina el papel de los nuevos medios en ‘la primavera árabe’ en la región del Medio Oriente y Norte de África (MENA, por sus siglas en inglés). Sostiene que aunque los nuevos medios hacen parte de los factores en la revolución social entre otros, como los factores sociales y políticos en la región, aun así, jugaron un papel muy importante especialmente en vista de la ausencia de medios independientes y una sociedad civil. La importancia de la globalización de los nuevos medios se hace resaltar al presentar un interesante cado de conectividad horizontal en la movilización social como también al señalar una nueva intersección de nuevos medios y medios convencionales como la televisión, la radio y el celular. Una de las contradicciones de la fase actual de la globalización es que el estado en muchos contextos, facilitó la promoción de un nuevo medio debido a la compulsión económica, afrontando inadvertidamente las consecuencias sociales y políticas de los nuevos medios.

本文考察发生在西亚北非地区的“阿拉伯之春”中新兴媒体的角色。文章认为尽管新兴媒体同其他政治和社会的因素一样,是该地区发生社会革命的因素之一,但却扮演了至关重要的角色,尤其是在缺乏开放的媒体和公民社会的条件下。由于代表了一种在社会动员中建立水平连通的有趣事例并同时预示着新兴媒体和传统媒体（如电视、电台和移动电话）交叉的新趋势,新兴媒体全球化的重要性被凸显出来。全球化现阶段的矛盾之一就是,在很多不同环境下国家由于经济强制而促进了新兴媒体发展,却正无奈地面对新兴媒体带来的社会和政治后果。     

阿拉伯世界的世俗主义与世俗化

阿拉伯世界的世俗主义是受西方的影响而产生的.19世纪中叶到20世纪中叶是阿拉伯世界世俗主义发展的第一阶段,首先在阿拉伯基督教信徒中间产生,并为阿拉伯基督教信徒和穆斯林共同发展.凯末尔领导的土耳其世俗化运动,使作为非阿拉伯国家的土耳其以其世俗主义模式影响了阿拉伯世界,很多阿拉伯国家随之走上世俗化道路.但从20世纪70年代开始,现代伊斯兰主义兴起,作为非阿拉伯国家的伊朗以其伊斯兰革命影响了阿拉伯世界现代伊斯兰主义的发展.作为对现代伊斯兰主义的回应,阿拉伯世界的世俗主义进入了第二阶段,福阿德·宰凯里亚的思想最具代表性.