DEVELOP-MENTALITIES – Islamic and Islamist Views of State, Society, and Economics in Yemen

ongoing

"How applicable are economic development models, approaches, and policies of the EU to the ideational, political, and structural conditions of Middle Eastern societies? This project provides answers to this question by examining Islamic and Islamist views on state, society, and economics in Yemen – the poorest country in the MENA region. The project contrasts divergent ideas of development among Yemen’s Islamists-in-exile, focusing on the Houthis, the Salafis, and members of al-Islah living in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates 8UA), and Oman, comparing local ""develop-mentalities"" with those prevailing among Western donors. It leverages the momentum of the slowdown of hostilities enabled by the recent Iran-Saudi deal, and the ongoing Saudi-Houthi negotiations, through an innovative methodology that combines concepts and approaches from Oral History, ethnography, economics, and politics. Academically, the project breaks new ground in the field of Islamic and Islamist economics by enriching our understanding of how political actors in the Global South think about state, modernity, globalization, and capitalism. It thereby contributes to Yemen’s history since 2011 while enriching our understanding of MENA geopolitics with new subaltern perspectives of the southern Arabian Peninsula. It further sheds light on the intersectionality between the epistemic universes of Western development theory and practice, and its applicability and receptivity in a complex, war-torn society that is dominated by tribalism and power politics. The secondary objective is to make a tangible contribution to the EU’s current efforts to transition beyond humanitarian, and towards economic, forms of development policy. By creating an unofficial line of communication between Yemen's Islamists and EEAS officials, the project intends to yield pragmatic and actionable policy outcomes while adding a critical, but constructive, perspective on the EU’s current development efforts in Yemen."