Finally, concern for workers in the oil industry
Revolutions, wars and the discovery of oil have determined the course of world history. The history of the oil industry has also been described extensively. But one important aspect is still missing. Social historian Touraj Atabaki intends to change this.
Touraj Atabaki: ‘The social history of the oil industry has been neglected.'
A status apart
Oil as a raw material has a status apart. Black gold was an important motivation in the development that the West has undergone in the twentieth century. Dependence on oil, both by oil-producding and by oil-consuming countries, largely determines the political balance in the world. And the role of oil is by no means over yet. 'To secure the future of energy supplies, it is important to understand the history of the producers,' says Atabaki, Professor of Social History of the Middle East and Central Asia. There has certainly not been a lack of studies of this history, but there is a lack of balance in the approaches taken. Atabaki: ‘The social history of the oil industry has been neglected.'
Rentier states
There have been many historical studies describing the history of oil from an economic perspective, or addressing the main actors, such as politicians, activists or managers. A recent example of this is the doctoral dissertation by Islam Qasem (public defence 15 February). Based on the history of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia between 1950 en 2000, Qasem developed a theory that he has christened the 'neo-rentier theory'. Rentier states acquire the majority of their income from abroad, and provide society with many free facilities and subsidies. It is not tax revenue that constitutes the main source of income, but the export of raw materials. This creates a relationship of dependency with consuming countries that affects both domestic and foreign security strategies.
Iran
Like Saudi Arabia, Iran is a rentier state. But the history of the Iranian oil industry goes back further. Oil was discovered there in 1908 (in Saudia Arabia it was not discovered until 1938). The find initiated the transition of the relatively unimportant Persian empire, inhabited primarily by nomads and farmers, into a flourishing economy. After Saudi Arabia Iran has the largest oil reserves in the world, which gives the country its position in the international arena.
Hiatus
The Iranian oil industry has been the subject of many historical studies. The transition of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) into the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) and later British Petroleum (BP) has been extensively documented. But this is only part of the story. Iran would not be the country it now is and BP would not be BP without the workers who manned the petrol pumps. Yet almost nothing is known about the workers in the oil industry as a social class.
Who were the workers in the Iranian oil industry?
Social history
‘The social history of the industry is a field that has hardly been explored,' comments Atabaki. 'Who worked in the oil industry, and where did they come from? What was their daily life like, and how did they adapt to the new oil cities? We don't know.' Although Atabaki is of Iranian origin, this is not the main motivation for his interest. He explains frther: 'Before you can understand a society, you first have to understand the social processes, which is just as important as understanding the political processes.' He hopes to convince other historians of the value of this social history, and to an extent he has already been successful in this: 'I now have eleven PhD students and three postdocs working for me,' he says with a certain degree of pride. 'And there's more new blood on the way,' he adds with a smile.
NWO subsidy
In the coming four years Atabaki will have more opportunity to broaden his research. At the end of last year he was awarded a subsidy of € 530,000 by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) for his research. The project comprises an empiric and qualitative study into work and workers in the Iranian oil industry. Together with his team, Atabaki will study the composition of the working class, the development of class awareness and worker activism and organisation. 'We are now busy selecting new PhD researchers and organising the project. In July we will really start work.'
Links
(22 February 2010/Hermen Visser)