Description: "This project examines how Saudi Arabian officials and economic elites used state archives, historical preservation, and urban redevelopment to consolidate power after the Gulf War. It shows how the Saudi regime attempted to shift the terrain of domestic opposition from the political to the historical and from the streets to institutions, transforming the nation's landscape into a revenue-generating asset"--
Review Quotes: "Rosie Bsheer'sArchive Warsis a forceful and inspiring reminder of what superb and unflinching scholarship and writing can do. Based on exciting fieldwork, Archive Wars examines the erasing and building of history in Saudi Arabia. It is one of those rare books that focuses our attention - without hesitation - on the broader stakes and processes of modern state formation while detailing the contingencies and tensions of power. It exposes with clarity and precision links between political-economy, state power, and the materiality of documents and the built environment. Attempts to erase and rewrite the past in Saudi Arabia will have to contend with Rosie Bsheer's archive.--Committee for the AGAPS Biennial Book Award