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The Rwala Bedouin Today

Second Edition

William Lancaster

Considered by many scholars to be one of the best modern ethnographies on Middle Eastern ethnic groups, this highly regarded, unromanticized account of Bedouin life—now updated—offers students a clear explanation of kinship systems in nomadic societies. The author and his family spent several years with the Rwala Bedouin of the Arabian peninsula, living as they did. Lancaster’s analysis focuses on Rwala social organization and the way in which the Rwala manipulate their social environment to cope with changing conditions. Like nomads everywhere, the Rwala are under pressure to come to terms with sedentarism and modernization; Lancaster examines the way in which they cope with what they see as an attack on their identity and autonomy.
 

$16.95 list, 203 pages

10-digit ISBN: 0-88133-943-1

13-digit ISBN: 978-0-88133-943-7

© 1997

Table of Contents

Preface 1997
Part I. THE PRESENT SYSTEM
Methodology
Background
The Bedu System—The Generative Genealogy
The Generative Genealogy and Marriage
Marriage and Reputation
The Position and Importance of Women
Political Power and Authority
Economics
Part II. CHANGE AND ADAPTATION
Introduction
History
Changing Marriage-Patterns
Economic Development and Technology
Segmentation, Balance and Symbolism
Postscript 1997
Appendix 1. The Genealogy of the Sha’alan
Appendix 2. Fukhudh of the Rwala