Introduction

The idea of ‘monarchical exceptionalism’ in the Gulf,first posited after the Arab Spring, implied thatthe mode of hereditary absolute rule in Bahrain,Morocco and Jordan had its own inherent legitimacyenabling it to withstand popular oppositionmovements (Yom and Gause 2014). This was used toexplain why the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)states seemed to be ‘immune’ to regime change.Rather than focusing on the concept andoperationalisation of legitimacy, this chapteranalyses the new authoritarian practices theBahraini state used to maintain its matrix ofdomination, to reconstitute privileges andoppression in a sectarian racialised system. Thisoccurred within the structural domains of the law,the media and economic wealth. The chapter furtherfocuses on the disciplinary mechanisms that pin thismatrix down. In turn, it demonstrates thatmonarchical exceptionalism does not exist, and thatthe Bahraini state has no inherent legitimacy as anabsolute monarchy, but has instituted persistentstructures of oppression within its matrix of power.Sectarianism here is not an essentialist paradigm,but serves as a disciplinary mechanism enforcing theviolent hierarchy of racialised life in Bahrain.

A Tradition of Pre- and Post-colonialAuthoritarian Practices

The Al-Khalifa ruling family, a Bedouin tribe from theArabian Peninsula, conquered Bahrain in 1783 and hasruled through primogeniture ever since, warding offforeign competition through a protection treaty withGreat Britain signed in 1820 and lasting until 1971.The ruling family relied on the protection of theBritish against foreign attacks, as the island'ssovereignty had been contested by neighbouringpowers for decades. Bahrain was a ‘colony’ ineverything but name. Britain would remove rulers asit did in 1923, and acted as judge and arbiter in amediated relationship between the Al-Khalifa princesand the indigenous Baharna population up until theofficial British withdrawal in 1971. The Al-Khalifatribe's rule against the Baharna was characterisedby routine and systematic sectarian violence for aslong as historical records go back. The Baharna, aShia Arab population, had lived in villages onfertile coastal land for centuries, worked the land,fished from the sea and produced basic goods fromweaving or pottery.