Bédouins Et Sédentaires Aujourd’hui À Al-‘Ulâ (royaume D’arabie Saoudite), Al-Diyâr Et Al-Dîra Dans Le Rétroviseur

The Saudi communities that make up the oasis of al-‘Ulâ (Saudi Arabia) display a unity cemented by their belonging to the kingdom, de facto excluding foreign workers, though essential to the local oasis economy. This unity under the royal seal is more proclaimed than locally thought and experienced by the inhabitants of the region. Local collective identities are nested, defined by belonging to one group as much as by its distinction from the other group of the same nature. This principle of nested subdivision begins between Bedouin and sedentary groups and is carried on in their midst. These first results of a rare ethnographic survey in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are intended to offer – before the completion of the project that supports them – an essential knowledge base so that the current development of al-‘Ulâ, led by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) and its contractors, can be carried out as closely as possible to the social realities of the local population.