The UAE has banned a book by a British academic, Christopher Davidson.
The book is called Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success. Davidson’s views were noted in an earlier post. In the book he points out how the economic success, dwindling oil resource, and need for foreign investment “could clash with the ideological, religious and cultural legitimacy” of the ruling family.
Looks like a spectacular own goal, really. There is no point in talking about knowledge economies and university cities if this is the attitude to critical thought (and this book was published by Columbia University Press, so it had been peer reviewed). However, Faisal Devji’s words are worth noting:
“This management (of information) is not political so much as corporate, resembling regulations common in workplaces around the world, since the UAE is as much a corporation as a country. In this respect it represents the global future of politics and capitalism…”
It wouldn’t surprise me if they lifted the ban, eventually.
(And yes, this is what you can call censorship.)
