Glocal Conservatism
“Glocal conservatism: How marketing articulated a neo-traditional Saudi Arabian society during the first oil boom, c. 1974-1984” was published by Relli Shechter, Department of Middle East Studies, Ben-Gurion University, in the May 2011 issue of the Journal of Macromarketing. Mr. Shechter kindly provided some background on his article.
Who is the target audience for this article?
Scholars interested in globalization, marketing and socio-political change. Area-specialists on the Middle East.
What inspired you to be interested in this topic?
I was curious to learn how the making of new markets in Saudi Arabia interacted with local tradition and patriarchy.
Were there findings that were surprising to you?
That current global capitalism allows states, as opposed to individuals, to form their own unique authoritarianism.
How do you see this study influencing future research and/or practice?
This publication centers mass consumption as a source for Middle Eastern socio-political conservatism during the oil-boom and since. It should be helpful in the rewriting of regional history in light of events taking place nowadays in the Middle East.
How does this study fit into your body of work/line of research?
The article is a part of a wider research, a comparative analysis of Egypt and Saudi Arabia during the first oil boom (c. 1974-1984). For those interested please see my: “Glocal Mediators: Marketing in Egypt during the Open-Door Era (infitah).” Enterprise and Society 9:4, 762-787.
How did your paper change during the review process?
The editor, Terrence Witkowski, guided me well through the process. Under his encouragement and challenge I did further empirical research and improved on the overall argument of the article.
