TribeState Relations

1
Tribe-State Relations

• A short case study on Jordan

2
Basics

• British mandate
• Creation of Transjordanian state
• Monarchy under Emir Abdallah
• From Talal to Hussein, 1951-1953 (Hussein dies
  1999)
  
• Qualified Independence (1946)

3
Population

• Pre-1948
• Settled peasants
• Semi-nomadic tribal confederations
• Post-1948
• Abdallah claims and takes West Bank, parts of
  Jerusalem
  
• Eastern part of Kingdom now contains 94 of land
  but 30 population
  
• Palestinian West Bank families and refugees
  (458,000 out of total pop of about 1.5 million)
  
• Post 1967
• Population, today
• About 5 million people
• About 30-45 of Jordans population descended
  from tribal groups (Bedouin and non-Bedouin)
  
• 70 Urban

4
Map of the tribes of Jordan (today)
Reproduced from The tribes of Jordan at the
beginning of the 21st century by Ghazi bin
Muhammad bin Talal (Amann Turab Press, 1999)
5
Tensions

• Hashemite officials vs local elites
• Town vs country
• Jordanian vs Palestinian

6
Tribes and Politics the military

• Integrating tribes
• John Glubb and the Arab Legion
• WWII economic benefits to tribes
• Bedouin loyalty to the state
• 1957 Zerka uprising renewal of tribal
  loyalties
  
• Black September 1970 Monarchy vs the
  Palestinian national movement (PLO)

7
Tribes and politics Ideologies

• Jordanian national identity vs the Palestinian
  other tribal components
  
• King Hussein as sheikh of the Jordanian tribe
• Tribal set pieces and visits
• Themes in Jordanian national identity
• Pre 1989 Arab revolt, family lineage of Hashemite
  kingdom, and Jordans tribal character
  
• Post 1989 Hashemite lineage and Arab-Muslim
  unity
  
• External consumption emphasizes tribal identity
  (tourism ministry)
  
• Internal consumption Jordan First (Abdallah)-
  Unity in Diversity!
  
• Bedouin efforts to create national, print
  community

Jordanian military in Maan patrol under a Jordan
First billboard. Photo Merip.org
8
notes

• Both states and tribe are security-oriented
  collectives whose paramount concerns are defense
  and economic security