Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Andrew Gardner, professor of anthropology at University of Puget Sound, and the keynote speaker for Lewis & Clark’s 1st annual Middle East Symposium. For the past 15 years, Dr. Gardner’s research has focused on transnational labor flows in the Gulf states, and the daily lives of migrant workers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka. More recently, his research has taken a spatial turn, looking at how rapid urbanization has become a key development strategy for countries like Qatar, Bahrain and the Emirates, and how these hypermodern cityscapes lead to intense sociospatial segregation. He’s even written briefly about Masdar City and the significance of sustainability ideology in the gulf states. In short—it was an extraordinary opportunity to connect with an expert in the field I’m working in. He graciously answered all the questions I could think to throw at him, and really helped to illuminate some of the more obscured dynamics that drive the political economy of the gulf states.
One pretty cool thing about the conversation was that it showed me I am well read enough in this field to have a fruitful conversation with an expert. I was familiar with virtually every name he threw out—Soja, Jameson, Davis, Elsheshtawy— and could form a coherent thought about their work and how it relates to spectacular urbanism in the gulf. The one exception was Aihwa Ong, who I have not yet read, but have been meaning to read for weeks! Hopefully I can get it together in the next day or two to peruse Neoliberalism as Exception. I think that book will really help me articulate how it is that spaces of free market economics (ie: Masdar City) can exist within Abu Dhabi’s formal political economy of absolute monarchs and generous welfare benefits for citizens.
At the end of our chat, Gardner told me I was “clearly on the right track” with my thesis—a statement that is at once comforting and unsettling—an indication that I’m doing well but have a lot more work to do. Time to get going!