Ethical communication: Exploring representations of Bedoon and migrant workers in the Kuwaiti TV show From Haram Street

Abstract

This research aims to provide a critical analysis of the portrayal of migrant workers and the Bedoon in the popular Kuwaiti TV series From Haram Street (Haram Street). The research methodology employs the use of a diasporic critique to explore to what extent have TV and popular culture as technologies of power allowed workers to submit to a certain degree of domination and how television reinforces this script of dominance. Using diasporic critique, the author highlights how labour migrants are displaced in reality but framed differently through popular culture. The key findings indicate that the series provides a highly stereotypical portrayal of the Bedoon and migrant worker communities. The findings also indicate that the diasporic nature of these communities – that of migrant workers and that of the Bedoon – allows for a privileged and hegemonic rhetoric that excludes domestic workers and Bedoon communities. Along with providing an insight into the feminist vernacular discourse in present-day Kuwait, Haram Street series also sets in motion hegemonic rhetorics meant to keep migrant workers and Bedoon communities disciplined and excluded through technologies of domination. Particular attention in this article is paid to how Haram Street shapes our understanding of the migrant workers’ and stateless individuals’ situation in Kuwait.