Iranians in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates: Migration, Minorities, and Identities in the Persian Gulf Arab States

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the unexplored space that Iranian expatriates occupy in Persian Gulf Arab States, specifically Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. It argues that culturally ascribed markers such as ethnicity, language, clothing, gender, religion, historical factors and nationality combine to produce hybrid Gulf Iranian identities among Iranian expatriates. The thesis performs an analysis of Iranian expatriate individuals' situations and conditions in the above societies and assesses the level of cross-interaction between Arabs and Iranians by building upon theories by Martinez, Hegel, Hobsbawm and Said. It concludes that studies of Iranian expatriates may not be performed in terms of Iranian or Gulf Arab identities but as a fluid synthesis of the two with sociopolitical implications for all Persian Gulf States. By understanding the Gulf Iranian expatriate community, or Gulf Iranians, we can move beyond analyses that are limited to national, ethnic and ideological lines to reevaluate Persian Gulf identities entirely.