Lecture by Toby Matthiesen to mark the publication of his latest book The Other Saudis: Shiism, Dissent and Sectarianism (Cambridge University Press, 2015) in which he traces the politics of the Shia in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia from the nineteenth century until the present day. Using little-known Arabic sources, extensive fieldwork in Saudi Arabia and interviews with key activists Matthiesen outlines the difficult experiences of being Shia in a Wahhabi state, and casts new light on how the Shia have mobilized politically to change their position.

Toby Matthiesen is a Research Fellow in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. He was previously a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of Sectarian Gulf: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the Arab Spring that Wasn’t (Stanford University Press, 2013) and The Other Saudis: Shiism, Dissent and Sectarianism (Cambridge University Press, 2015).