The enduring legacy of camel culture in the United Arab Emirates

Camel culture encompasses the customary traditions and social behaviors associated with the relationships between humans and camels. Since their domestication on the Arabian Peninsula, dromedary camels have been integral to the Bedouin way of life. Following the formation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), efforts have been made to preserve the cultural heritage of camels. We examine the transformation of camel culture in the UAE. Moving beyond utilitarian narratives, we employ a more-than-human geographical framework to analyze how the traditional Bedouin-camel relationship has been reconfigured into state-mediated heritage. Drawing on 21 semi-structured interviews with Emirati camel owners and breeders, our findings reveal that camels have evolved from co-agents of desert life to symbolic objects of national identity, mobilized through festivals, racing, and breeding programs. This generates tensions between authenticity and innovation, evident in a generational divide between older guardians that emphasize traditional customs, and younger Emiratis that champion technological integration. Camel culture functions as a mechanism for negotiating Emirati identity, serving as both a symbolic boundary marker in a globalized context, and a compelling case study of how non-humans are central to projects of cultural preservation, contributing to debates in Gulf studies and heritage literature.