The Making of Jordan: Tribes, Colonialism and the Modern State
At the beginning of the 20th Century Jordan, like much of the Middle East, was a loose collection of tribes. By the time of its independence in 1946 it had the most firmly embedded state structures in the Arab world. Drawing on previously untapped sources, Yoav Alon examines how the disparate clan networks of Jordan were integrated into the Hashemite monarchy, with the help of the British colonial administrators. Looking at the growth of key state institutions from a grassroots perspective,...
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At the beginning of the 20th century Jordan, like much of the Middle East, was a loose collection of tribes. By the time of its independence in 1946 it had the most firmly embedded state structures in the Arab world. Drawing on previously untapped sources, Yoav Alon examines how the disparate clan networks of Jordan were integrated into the Hashemite monarchy, with the help of the British colonial administrators. Looking at the growth of key state institutions from a grassroots perspective, Alon shows how they co-opted the structures of tribal society, and produced a distinctive hybrid between modern statehood and tribal confederacy which still characterizes Jordan to this day. Alon’s innovative approach to the origins of modern Jordan provides fresh insights not only into Jordan itself but into colonialism, modernity and the development of the state in the Middle East.
Preface viiMaps xiiiIntroduction: The Study of State, Tribe and Colonial Rule in Jordan 11 Between Two Empires: Transjordan on the Eve of Abdullah's Arrival 132 'Bedu Amir' or Constitutional Monarch? The Struggle for the Nature of the Emirate, 1921-1924 373 The Making of a Colonial State, 1924-1930 614 Colonialism as a Fine Art: Glubb Pasha and the Desert Tribes, 1928-1946 1105 State Consolidation and Tribal Participation, 1930-1946 110Conclusion: Towards an Appraisal of the Mandate's Legacy in Jordan 148Glossary: Tribes and Shaykhs 159Notes 167Bibliography 194Index 203
