Based on remarkable primary research, this unique contemporary account of the lives of young Saudi men reveals a distinct group of voices.
Mark C. Thompson is Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, and Senior Associate Fellow at King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Saudi Arabia. His articles have been published in the Journal of Arabian Studies, Asian Affairs, Middle Eastern Studies, Middle East Policy and Gulf Affairs, he is the author of Saudi Arabia and the Path to Political Change: National Dialogue and Civil Society (2014) and co-editor of Policy-Making in the GCC: State, Citizens and Institutions (2017) with Dr Neil Quilliam.
Introduction and background; 1. What is Saudi? Identity, religiosity and generational divides; 2. The Saudi 'social contract' under strain: employment, housing and healthcare; 3. The new media revolution, public opinion and the relationship between the governing and governed; 4. Education, societal transformation and globalization; 5. Masculinity, gender relations and marriage; 6. Distrust, fault lines and recreation; 7. Saudi Vision 2030 and national development; Conclusion: youth, Saudi Arabia's human capital.