traditional mena social structure social ecology of family relations and psychological development
TRANSCRIPT
Traditional MENA Social Structure
Social Ecology of
Family Relations and Psychological Development
Traditional MENA Social Org
• Tribal?
• Segmentary lineages?
• Social classes?
• Feudal?
Traditional MENA Social Org
Symbiosis:
• Pastoralism
• Agriculture
• City-based crafts & merchants
+ rulers & religious scholars
Tribal Society?• Self-governing groups
– Beyond reach of government– “Submit” to government & pay “tax”
• Nomadic pastoralists – “bedouin”– Herd camels, sheep, goats– Have “client” groups of farmers & craftsmen
• Transhumants
• Agriculturalists
Bedouin camp -- Arabia
Bedouin camp -- Iran
Bedouin camp
Bedouin camp
Berber nomads, Morocco 1985
Berber nomads, Morocco 1985
Herding camp, Morocco, 1987
Herding camp, Morocco, 1987
Herding camp, Morocco 1986
Herding camp, Morocco 1986
Herding campMorocco
1987
Tribes in Arab-Muslim Societies
• Struggle between tribes and states– Still in Pakistan & Afghanistan
• Contrast of urban & rural ways of life
– Ibn Khaldun: “civilization” vs. “solidarity”
• Raiding and feuding– Every man a warrior– Culture celebrating heroic deeds
• Tribesmen migrated into cities
Tribal Social Organization• “segmentary lineage system”
– E. E. Evans-Pritchard, The Nuer, 1930s
• Lineage: group of families descended from common ancestor– Patrilineage: traced through male line– Matrilineage: traced through female line
we have bilateral kindred system
Segmentary Lineage System
• Nuclear families nested within extended
• Extended families nested within lineages– genealogical links sometimes traceable
• Lineages nested within clans– genealogical links not traceable
• Clans nested within tribe or tribal “fractions”
Segmentary Lineage System
“Clan”
Lineage
Extended family
Nuclear family
Evans-Pritchard Thesis
Shifting balance of feuding and fusing segments
Order and stability without government
Tamzrit: 75 households7 “lineages” 4 “clans”
Tamzrit
Tamzrit
Arab / MENA Tribes:
Segmentary
but not really segmentary!
Michael Meeker: Magritte on the Bedouins
Segmentary Lineages
1. Mental map of social structure
2. Ideology -- often distorts real relationships
3. Map & ideology: sketches potential relationships people can build, and claims they can make on each other
Segmentary Lineages
1. Model only approximated
2. Not all kinsmen included
3. Some / many non-kin included: patron-client networks
4. Ties deliberately built across kin groups
Segmentary Lineages5. Model more likely actualized in absence
of gov’t control“If there’s a crisis, you’ll see
the lineages emerge.”
re-created by militia groups & in chaos: Lebanese, Algerian, Iraqi civil wars; Afghanistan, Libya?
can appear “tribal”
Marriage & Family
in traditional MENA societies
Marriages Arranged
• Many pre-industrial societies arrange marriages (Especially agricultural Eurasia: Europe, MENA, India, China)
• Marriage is relationship between families, not necessarily two young people in love
• Most lineage-based societies practice lineage / clan exogamy
Marriage Rules: Exogamy
• Levi-Strauss: Men exchange & circulate women
Builds solidarity among lineages / clans
• Cross-cousin (MBD or FSD) preferred or required; parallel cousin prohibited & viewed as “incest”
Kinship Diagrams
married
children
male female
siblings
Exogamous M.B.D. Marriage
ego
M B
D
Cross-cousins
Endogamous F.B.D. Marriage
ego
B ?
?
Parallel cousins
F ?
D
Marriage Rules: MENA
• “Close marriage” -- endogamous
parallel cousin (FBD) preferred
but not majority of marriages
cross-cousin (MDB) O.K.
2nd or 3rd cousins O.K.
Patrilineal families / households also look matrilineal from the inside
Patriliny and Matriliny
ego
B ?
?
Parallel cousins
F ?
D
Arranged Marriages
• Traditionally: marriages arranged to create or cement relationships between families
• Girls (and boys) may be forced to marry strangers or people they dislike
• Men usually 5 – 10 years older
Girls often 14 to 17
Effects of Endogamy
• Weaker cross-kin segment bonds?
• Strengthens within-kin segment bonds
greater fission & feuding?
• Creates matrilineal kinship network within patrilineal
strengthens hsld women’s solidarity?
Traditional Marriage Strategies• Marry up in wealth & status
• Marry close – conserve property & status
– Endogamous parallel cousin FBD preferred
– Children may prefer these
• Alliance marriages: link distant families
• Result: officially patrilineal, but matrifocal
Traditional Marriage Strategies• Father / patriarch may choose and has
final say
• Mother acts as family agent & scouts behind scenes– May consult with son or daughter– Kids may prefer cousins or kin they know
• High status & wealthy families follow rules more closely
What of romantic love?
• Recognized & celebrated in tragic literature and folktales
• Seen as fickle, undependable
• Different from love that grows from years of marriage
– “heart” love vs. “liver” love
Divorce• Frequent in many areas
– Failure to have child within 2 years– Mistreatment by husband or in-laws
• Women “leave” inheritance with brothers, in case she’s divorced
• 2nd marriages less formal; woman may have greater say
Family / Kin group:“Patronymic Association”
• “People of…”
• “Descendents of…”
• “House of…”
big extended family
little lineage
Patronymic Association
• Basic unit of traditional social organization– pastoralist camping group
– adjoining households in village
– neighborhood or alley in urban quarter
• Lineage-like, but…– Does NOT include many families & members
– DOES include “clients” treated as if family
– Fuzzy, fluid, & shifting boundaries
Patronymic Association• Kin terms, etiquettes, and feelings
extended to non-kin patrons and clients
• Family-kin relationships not fixed by genealogy, but negotiated – as if patron-client relationships
• Key to traditional MENA social org:
networks of face-to-face kin-based and kin-like patron-client relationships
Patron-Client Relations
• Reciprocity system:– gift & counter-gift – shifting imbalance
maintains mutual indebtedness
• Family / kin idiom & etiquettes:– Patron – like father or uncle -- dominates,
protects & may promote– Client – like son or nephew – subordinates
self, receives protection, maybe promotion
Patron-Client Relations
• Exchanges of gifts & favors:
Traditional reciprocity system?
or:
Corruption?
MENA Social Organization• Segmentary – but not lineages (Magritte’s
pipe !)
• Family-based – but not just nuclear (or even extended) families: patronymic association
• Strategy -- build strong entourage of kin & clients
• Family gender & age hierarchy extended to patron-client relations
Traditional MENA Social Org
Fuad Khuri:
• “tents” rather than “pyramids”
• leader / entourage segments
• competition to be “first among equals”
“Modern” Social Organization
• Bureaucracies– Schools, companies, gov’t ministries
• Social classes– Elite, “populaire” & slum-dweller lifestyles
• State control– Monarchies, military dictatorships, one-party
“presidencies”– Political parties & movements– Mukhabbarat -- secret police
“Modern” Social Organization
• Nuclear Families
• Fewer children
• Gender equality
• Individual choice of…– Spouse– Vocation– Lifestyle– Religiosity
“Modern” social organization
“Modernity”
Underdevelopment
( H. Sharabi:
“neo-patriarchy” )
Tradition
“Modern” Social Organization
Modernization
&
Underdevelopment
+
Cultural Dualities
Landmarks in Marrakech
Ramadanshoppingin Alexandria
at theMarilyn Monroeboutique