Paper short abstract:

The paper explores how oil has permeated into nearly every aspect of daily life in Gabon, the implications the rentier state has on political culture and how people, although often not directly linked to the offshore productions sites, are affected by the oil rent.

Paper long abstract:

Due to its oil rent, Gabon has long been one of the wealthiest sub-Saharan states and is often described as an African emirate. Crude oil production having started as early as the 1960s, the construction of the independent state went along with grandiose and prestigious infrastructure projects that kindled national pride. The oil rent further often took and still takes the role of a social shock absorber and provides political elites with redistribution and regulation capabilities that assure popular support and the maintenance of political stability. Apart from economic and political impacts, though, the oil revenue also has numerous social implications, from enhancing conspicuous consumption to what is regarded as a general rent mentality of the citizenry. With the government's new attempts to diversify the national economy and to break with the rent mentality, popular discontent is growing and is increasingly taken into the streets, replacing national pride with a discourse on shame and anger. Based on empirical data from fieldwork in Gabon, the paper explores how oil has permeated into nearly every aspect of daily life and how people, although often not directly linked to the offshore productions sites, are affected by the oil rent. The paper further deals with the implications the rentier state has on political culture and everyday life.