pepperberry

Dubai’s skyline is a marvel—and a mask. This essay argues the “Dubai model” is a rentier extraction system powered by the kafala labour regime, anti‑city urbanism, financial opacity, and U.S. security guarantees. Exporting it replicates spectacle without development.

Read: https://thinkingprospectus.substack.com/p/the-dubai-model-spectacle-servitude

#Dubai #Urbanism #Labour #Geopolitics #CityDesign #AntiCity #Transport #Housing #CriticalUrbanism #Gulf #Labour #PoliticalEconomy #Migration #Geopolitics #UrbanDevelopment #Gulf

5:21pmWeb
Show threadpepperberry5h ago

The “Dubai model” isn’t development—it’s stagecraft atop a labour regime designed to prevent belonging. The airport is a marvel; the social contract is exclusion by design.

The result is exportable spectacle—with imported servitude.

Full Essay: https://thinkingprospectus.substack.com/p/the-dubai-model-spectacle-servitude

THE DUBAI MODEL: Spectacle, Servitude, and the Political Economy of the Gulf City

A Multidisciplinary Critical Analysis of Urban Development, Empire, Labour, and Geopolitical Fragility

Thinking Prospectus