Overview

At the outset of the twenty-first century and in the midst of the Arab Spring, tribe-state relations are a useful frame of reference through which to analyse the Middle East on a state-by-state basis. Tribes and States in a Changing Middle East looks beyond the dichotomy between tribe and state. Its central theme is the role of tribes and tribalism in state politics, society, and identity, as demonstrated in case studies from the Arab East (mashriq). The book is a comparative endeavour that seeks to address questions related to the interplay between tribal organisations and state institutions, tribal solidarity and nationalism, and tribal power and the centralised government. It further discusses the impact and role of tribal polities in modern states in times of regional and national turmoil.

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9781849043458

Table of Contents

Reviews

'This book is an outstanding tribute to the life and work of Joseph Kostiner who did so much to bring the sensibilities of a historian and the acuity of a social scientist to the study of states and tribes in the Middle East. It carves out new fields of research that build on, but also take further, many of his original insights.' - Charles Tripp, Professor of Middle East Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; 'Uzi Rabi, who himself is among the foremost scholars now working on tribal identity and the state, has assembled an impressive cast of contributors to this volume. ... Tribes and States is admirable in its intellectual ambition and empirical scope and certainly the best volume now available on understanding past context and the present conditions that now shape tribal-state relations in the contemporary Middle East.' - Clive Jones, Professor of Regional Security, and Deputy Head of School in the School of Government and International Affairs, University of Durham; 'Tribes and States draws together an impressive, some might say stellar, range of experts in order to explore - through the prism of country-by-country analyses - the role of tribes in the state formation and consolidation processes.' - James Worrall, Lecturer in International Relations, School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds, and author of State Building and Counter Insurgency in Oman

Author Information

Uzi Rabi is Director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University. He is the author of The Emergence of States in a Tribal Society: Oman Under Sa'id bin Taymur, 1932-1970.

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