When the Sociologist Wears the Historian’s Cloak: Uses of History in Khaldoun Al-Naqeeb’s Analysis of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Societies

Abstract

This study examines the uses of history in Khaldoun Al-Naqeeb’s study of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula societies by examining his writings through a historian’s lens. It does not treat this use as a standalone historical narrative; instead, it analyses his instrumentalization of historical materials, events, and sources within an interpretive argument about state and class formation, and the trajectories of economic and political transformation. The article discusses Al-Naqeeb’s critique of historians and analyses his use of history, as reflected, for example, in his periodization – largely driven by an economistic perspective – as well as in his class analysis that tends to privilege economic determinants over lineage and tribal affiliation. The paper concludes that while Al-Naqeeb’s project enriched Arabian Peninsula studies, it requires a more rigorous application of historical methods to the contexts he addresses.