When the Subalterns find their Voice – The Example of Kuwait’s Bidun
When the Subalterns find their Voice – The Example of Kuwait’s Bidun

Summary/Abstract: The wave of revolutionary uprisings in a series of Arab countries in 2010/11 alsoencouraged a number of minorities in the MENA region to take to the streets and raisetheir voices against discrimination and marginalization. Parts of Kuwait’s stateless Bidunwere among the subalterns who now began to call for their civil rights as long-termresidents of the country. The protests began in 2011, were upheld sporadically until 2014,and resurfaced in mid-2019 following the suicide of a young Bidun. After a brief lookat the historical background and context, this contribution will focus on the mobilizationand activities of pro-Bidun organizations in recent years (2011–2014/15, 2018–19/20) andask whether there are signs of a broader alliance between Bidun and Kuwaiti citizens tocounter the increasingly authoritarian, anti-democratic governmental policies. It will beargued that as from 2018/19, a rapprochement of positions can be discerned. However,the year 2020 brought a new setback.

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