24.08.2021

Tribes in Modern Yemen: An Anthology

Marieke BRANDT, Andre GINGRICH, Lisa LENZ-AYOUB, Alexander WEISSENBURGER

 

Serial: Denkschriften der philosophisch-historischen Klasse, Volume: 531

Serial: Sammlung Eduard Glaser, Volume: 18

Publisher: VÖAW

ISBN13: 978-3-7001-8619-9

In Yemen, “tribe” is a historically rooted, emic concept of social representation. Rooted in remotest antiquity, over the last centuries the concept of tribe in Yemen has undergone transformations, but also featured aspects of continuity. Today, with the emergence of massive political change, the eruption of popular uprisings, armed conflicts, external military intervention and the associated weakness of the state, tribalism seems to be gaining in importance once again, filling the void created by a retreating state. This collective volume explores the longevity and diversity of manifestations of tribalism in present-day Yemen. It aims at updating and rethinking research on tribes and tribalism in Yemen and providing new input for the discussion of tribalism in contemporary Middle East.

Marieke Brandt
Introduction: The Concept of Tribe in the Anthropology of Yemen page 11
Some Remarks on Blood Vengeance (thaʾr) in Contemporary Yemen page 63

Andre Gingrich
Munebbih’s Northwestern Borders Through the 20th Century page 95

Lisa Lenz-Ayoub 
From Bordering to Ordering: The Tribal Factor in Managing the Yemeni-Saudi Border page 109

Alexander Weissenburger
Al-Mawaddah al-Khālidah? The Ḥūthī Movement and the Idea of the Rule of the Ahl al-Bayt in Yemen’s Tribal Society page 121