Resisting change: Women and youth in a post-oil world Analysing Saudi Arabia’s Vision2030 reforms

Abstract

In this paper, I conduct a critical analysis of Saudi Arabia’s Vision2030 reforms. In 2016, the King of Saudi Arabia, Muhammed bin Salman Al Saud (MBS), introduced economic reforms to diversify the economy away from oil dependency. I analyse Saudi Arabia’s historic experience as a ‘rentier state’, and examine how the country plans to expand its economy beyond oil production. In doing so, I explore the effects of the Vision2030 reforms on two key groups: women and youth. I find women and youth have historically been excluded from Saudi Arabia’s economy, and while the Vision2030 reforms acknowledge the economic deficits faced by these groups, the reforms do little to address the major structural problems preventing women and youth from full economic participation.