Pauvreté et charité en Arabie Saoudite : la famille royale, le secteur privé et l'État providence

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Pauvreté et charité en Arabie Saoudite : la famille royale, le secteur privé et l’État providence

Poverty and Charity in Saudi Arabia: The Royal Family, the Private Sector and the Welfare State Most macroeconomic studies on Saudi Arabia have qualified the distribution system of this country as the welfare state. Yet the study of the concrete modalities of distribution and discourses connected to them shows to what extent members of the Saudi royal family cultivate confusion and ambiguity between public assistance and private giving, or charity. A study conducted in certain charity institutions, the development of which is currently encouraged by the state, helps clarify the particular role of royal family members and the private sector in this area. In Riyad, charity organizations and foundations are required to secure support from royal family members, who contribute along with the private sector to their funding. Caught in a vise between mandatory royal family patronage and bureaucratic control by the Ministry of Social Affairs, charity organizations, although legally private, are very limited in their autonomy.