The Urban Political Ecology of Petro‐Colonialism: The Transformation of Ethnic Relations in Khuzestan's Oil Region, 1908–1990

Abstract In the early 20 th century, when oil was discovered in Khuzestan, the native Arab population was the dominant socio‐political group in most parts of the region. A century later, they are among the most marginalised in Iran. What role did the oil industry play in this transformation? Drawing on archival research, this paper argues that the racialisation of native populations has been central to the logic of oil capitalism. In Khuzestan, this began with the exclusion of Arabs from employment in the colonial oil company, severing their access to new forms of social reproduction and rendering them external to an industry that relied on their land. This exclusion persisted even after oil nationalisation, revealing how oil capitalism operates through domestic colonialism. The paper contends that addressing the social and ecological consequences of the fossil fuel industry requires closer attention to how it disrupts the social reproduction of affected communities.