Social and Economic Development in the Arab Gulf (RLE Economy of Middle East) by Tim Niblock

Author:Tim Niblock [Niblock, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138820326
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2018-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

Figure 8.1: Oman

If this change is to be orderly and produce an improvement on the old way of life, then it is essential that members of the region’s governments and their administrations should appreciate how the traditional system functioned, should be prepared to see if there are aspects of it which should be fostered, and should understand how their decisions interweave with those of others. This means that the decision maker must appreciate his role in that society. His starting-point should be the analysis of his own culture and history, not for self-aggrandisement or nationalistic ends, but to assess objectively the weaknesses and strengths of the past. Unfortunately, most Omanis in power today pay lip service to this past but in fact are quite ignorant about it. Nor do they really want to know anything about it because for them the old and traditional are backward while the modern is progressive. So they continue to allow the collapse of the existing systems whilst pointing to the outward veneer of modernisation as constituting development.

It is with the object of showing in part how this traditional system functioned that I have taken one of its most basic elements, the falaj (plural: aflaj), and will attempt to show how technical, demographic and environmental features are all inextricably bound into the way of life that is now being undermined through uncontrolled change.

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