Engendering Consumerism in the Saudi Capital

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139047586.019

15 - Engendering Consumerism in the Saudi Capital

A Study of Young Women’s Practices in Shopping Malls

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2015

Amélie Le Renard

Edited by

Bernard Haykel ,

Thomas Hegghammer and

Stéphane Lacroix

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Bernard Haykel: Affiliation:
Princeton University, New Jersey
Thomas Hegghammer: Affiliation:
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey
Stéphane Lacroix: Affiliation:
Sciences Po, Paris

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Summary

In the beginning of my stay in Riyadh, my interviewees, young Saudi women living in the city, used to ask me the typical questions one asks anyone recently arrived in the kingdom’s capital. Among these questions, one surprised me particularly: “Which shopping malls have you visited? Have you been to Kingdom Mall? And to Faysaliyya Mall?” In most other world capitals, these questions concern museums, or famous streets and squares. My interviewees’ questions revealed that they considered shopping malls sites to be seen by a foreigner. During the following months of fieldwork, as I witnessed more and more conversations between young Saudi women in different social occasions, I noticed that shopping malls were a topic they often talked about: Sometimes, they would compare different malls regarding their shops, the price of commodities, or the general atmosphere. Other times, they would report what happened to themselves, their relatives, or their friends interacting with sellers, young men, or the religious police in malls. They also commented on women’s appearances, makeup, and hairstyles in these spaces. The omnipresence of topics related to shopping malls caught my attention: How could these spaces be so central in young women’s conversations? Were they as important in their daily lives as in their talk? What made them so attractive to young women in the Saudi context?

Type: Chapter
Information: Saudi Arabia in Transition
Insights on Social, Political, Economic and Religious Change
, pp. 314 - 331

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139047586.019 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2015

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