Discourse and oppositionality in the Arab Spring: The case of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE

Abstract

Theorizing the nature and possibility of political opposition in the Arab Gulf states after the ‘Arab Spring’ has largely focused on the state’s capacity to dispense economic patronage to defuse any oppositional formation. Citing the lack of critical popular and public mobilization, many opted to focus only on the ‘resilience’ of the state, re-emphasizing the often-touted view of ‘Gulf exceptionalism’ under the rentier state social contract. Within this conceptual framework, the risk of political opposition only arises when the state is unable to expand economic entitlement to its populations. The aim of this article is to examine the forms and formations of religious-based oppositional discourse that can arise in a rentier state. More specifically, the goal of this article is to examine the dynamic oppositional narratives engendered by the Muslim Brotherhood against the government of the UAE after the ‘Arab Spring.’ One of the main assertions in this article is that this oppositional discourse transcended simple demands for political and economic participation and evolved into a broader form of de-legitimation discourse grounded in notions of social justice, identity rights, and civic entitlements.