In the Time Before Oil: A History and Heritage of Pearling in the United Arab Emirates

• Other Authors: Hightower, Victoria Penziner (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: History
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-7212

Pearling provided the basis for economic prosperity for the port cities in the southern Persian/Arabian Gulf, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today. However, in the light of oil wealth, pearling has been relegated to the distant past. It is overshadowed by the pace and scale of change that accompanied the distribution of oil wealth and maligned as part of the traditional economy, often with negative implications. The reasons for the denigration of this industry lay partially in the conception of the past promoted in the UAE today and in the belief that there are simply too few sources to really begin to examine social and political relations in the past. This dissertation takes these very misconceptions and demonstrates that there are resources sufficient to examine pearling in the past and that pearling's memory is constructed by the present national narrative, which situates independence as the harbinger of wealth, and the complications brought on by the breakdown in pearling in the middle of the twentieth century. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Arts. === Summer Semester, 2011. === April 8, 2011. === Includes bibliographical references. === Peter P. Garretson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Rebecca Miles, University Representative; Jonathan Grant, Committee Member; Frederick Davis, Committee Member; Will Hanley, Committee Member; Adam Gaiser, Committee Member.