‘No Woman No Drive’: The Saudi State’s New Politics of Fun

Abstract

Scholars of authoritarian states have long been interested in how resistance is expressed through cultural productions such as music, art, and satire. Recently, scholars within International Politics have, however, directed attention towards understanding how also state leaders and institutions themselves employ humour in public diplomacy, in identity construction, and in misinformation campaigns. A case in point is Saudi Arabia, whose government since the presentation of its ‘Vision 2030’ program aiming to reform the Saudi economy and society has focused on developing and investing in the field of culture and entertainment, including comedy. This article seeks to understand how authoritarian states can appropriate and co-opt humour and fun to construct its identity top-down to gain legitimacy. We do this by looking at two examples: a music festival and the commissioning of a comedy group. The article also examines the alternative and potentially dissenting spaces for fun that exist alongside and within the Saudi government–controlled initiatives, such as the music festival, by additionally looking at a stand-up comedy event in Riyadh. This part of the article analyzes how subversive enactments happen in government-sanctioned spaces under the gaze of the state, potentially contributing to the creation of a new narrative about Saudi state identity as youthful, modern and open, and importantly different from the previous conservative and pious identity. Hence, this article argues that humour and fun more broadly simultaneously can be a space for counter conducts and a way for authoritarian regimes to govern.