Tribal Politics In The Borderland Of Egypt And Libya

This book explores the tribal politics of the Awlad ‘Ali Bedouin in the borderland of Egypt and Libya. These tribal politics are part of heterarchy in which sovereignty is shared between tribes, states and other groups and, within this dynamic setting, the local politicians of the Awlad ‘Ali are essential producers of order beyond the framework of the nation state. Based on long-term fieldwork, this monograph is ideal for audiences interested in North African Politics, Libya, Egypt, and borderland studies.

Desert Borderland investigates the historical processes that transformed political identity in the easternmost reaches of the Sahara Desert in the half century before World War I. Adopting a view from the margins—illuminating the little-known history of the Egyptian–Libyan borderland—the book challenges prevailing notions of how Egypt and Libya were constituted as modern territorial nation-states. Matthew H. Ellis draws on a wide array of archival sources to reconstruct the multiple layers and meanings of territoriality in this desert borderland. Throughout the decades, a heightened awareness of the existence of distinctive Egyptian and Ottoman Libyan territorial spheres began to develop despite any clear-cut boundary markers or cartographic evidence. National territoriality was not simply imposed on Egypt's western—or Ottoman Libya's eastern—domains by centralizing state power. Rather, it developed only through a complex and multilayered process of negotiation with local groups motivated by their own local conceptions of space, sovereignty, and political belonging. By the early twentieth century, distinctive "Egyptian" and "Libyan" territorial domains emerged—what would ultimately become the modern nation-states of Egypt and Libya.

Of all the countries in North Africa and the Middle East, less has been known about Libya for decades. Only recently have we begun to appreciate the complexity of Libya’s turbulent past, including the revolution in 2011 in which demands for better living conditions and more job opportunities led to widespread protests. When the Muammar al-Qaddafi regime responded with force to these peaceful protests, killing scores of unarmed civilians, the protesters called for regime change. In what came to be known as the February 17 Revolution, the 42-year-old Qaddafi regime was overthrown, and Qaddafi was killed in October 2011. Over the next decade, Libya endured a series of interim, transitional governments in a prolonged struggle to draft a new constitution and to elect a democratic national government. Historical Dictionary of Libya, Sixth Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Libya.

Articoli / Articles Mouldi Lahmar, Arab Spring, Colonial Knowledge, and Foreign Intervention in Libya: The Revival of “Tribe” Fantahun Ayele, The Life of Däǧǧač Abba Wǝqaw Bǝrru: Some Notes on Sirak’s Manuscript (Addis Ababa, Institute of Ethiopian Studies, MS 400) Biyan G. Okubagherghis, Livelihood and Sustainability in the Eritrea-Ethiopia Borderland: A Case Study of Soräna Chama Kaluba Jickson, Food Security and State Agricultural Policies: The Long History of Cassava in Zambia from the Pre-Colonial Period to 1990 Angelo Del Boca, La “Lectio” Recensioni / Reviews Alessandra Brivio, Donne, emancipazione e marginalità (Gaetano Ciarcia) Stefano Bellucci and Andreas Eckert (eds.), General Labour History of Africa (Jean Copans) Autori / Contributors

Across the Muslim world, from Iraq and Yemen, to Egypt and the Sahel, new alliances have been forged between the latest wave of violent Islamist groups ---- -including Islamic State and Boko Haram ---- -and local tribes. But can one now speak of a direct link between tribalism and jihadism, and how analytically useful might it be? Tribes are traditionally thought to resist all encroachments upon their sovereignty, whether by the state or other local actors, from below; yet by joining global organizations such as Islamic State, are they not rejecting the idea of the state from above? This triangular relationship is key to understanding instances of mass 'radicalization', when entire communities forge alliances with jihadi groups, for reasons of self-interest, self-preservation or religious fervor. If Algeria's FIS or Turkey's AKP once represented the 'Islamization of nationalism', have we now entered a new era, the 'tribalization of globalization'?

Regime change in Libya (2011) and Iraq (2003) catapulted a host of sub-state actors to the fore, including tribes, which have emerged as influential political, security and social actors. But despite this increased role and visibility, tribes remain poorly understood. Often mistakenly associated with the 'periphery' or with 'pre-national' or 'pre-modern' forms of political organisation, they are routinely portrayed as the antithesis of the state. Yet tribes--the Middle East's oldest, most enduring and most controversial social entities--have proved able to adapt and evolve, entering into mutually beneficial relationships with various regimes. Based on interviews with tribal sheikhs, tribal representatives and other stakeholders, Alison Pargeter traces the role of the tribe in Libya and Iraq from the revolutionary nationalist period into the fraught transitions that followed. She reveals how tribes have succeeded in developing a presence in national and local political structures; how they have engaged and bargained with major powerbrokers; and how they have become important security providers in their own right. Contrary to modernist approaches seeking to write the obituary of the tribe, this book shows how tribes have not only survived in Libya and Iraq, but remain a key component of the state in both countries.

The debate on governance originates in the OECD world. At the latest since the postcolonial debate, we know that we need to “test” our assumptions under radically different conditions. This book offers an extended perspective of local self-governance by examining cases from South Asia, Africa, and Latin America, together with a study of militias in the USA. The chapters present a wide variety of local actors who pursue different notions of order legitimized by local traditions based on hierarchy or deeply rooted communalism, Islamic theology, or grassroots democracy. Some local actors claim a state-like authority and challenge the territorial state. In such cases, there is no longer “a shadow hierarchy” but opposition to the state. Different violent actors fight for supremacy, and the state is just one actor among others. The empirical studies presented in this book show how different kinds of local self-governance are combined with varieties of statehood, and thus contribute to an understanding of the notion of governance in a fundamental sense that goes beyond the special case of the OECD world.

The Routledge Handbook of Smuggling offers a comprehensive survey of interdisciplinary research related to smuggling, reflecting on key themes, and charting current and future trends. Divided into six parts and spanning over 30 chapters, the volume covers themes such as mobility, borders, violent conflict, and state politics, as well as looks at the smuggling of specific goods – from rice and gasoline to wildlife, weapons, and cocaine. Chapters engage with some of the most contentious academic and policy debates of the twenty-first century, including the historical creation of borders, re-bordering, the criminalisation of migration, and the politics of selective toleration of smuggling. As it maps a field that contains unique methodological, ethical, and risk-related challenges, the book takes stock not only of the state of our shared knowledge, but also reflects on how this has been produced, pointing to blind spots and providing an informed vision of the future of the field. Bringing together established and emerging scholars from around the world, The Routledge Handbook of Smuggling is an indispensable resource for students and researchers of conflict studies, borderland studies, criminology, political science, global development, anthropology, sociology, and geography.