The study of middle east politics, 1946-1996: A stocktaking

Middle East Journal

Volumn 50, Issue 4, 1996, Pages

  Bill, James A ^a  

^a The College of William and Mary

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 3743124132     PISSN: 00263141     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (18)

1. For a probing account of the soul-searching concerning the ethics and politics of doing fieldwork, see Diane L. Wolf, ed., Feminist Dilemmas in Fieldwork (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996). Two of the case studies included in this volume are Middle Eastern. Because of the inequity and the power game that mark researcher-subject interaction, some anthropologists have gone so far as to condemn fieldwork as inherently exploitative.
2. (London: Athlone Press, 1959).
3. An example of an important exception is Richard Antoun and Iliya Harik, eds., Rural Politics and Social Change in the Middle East (Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, 1972).
4. This embarrassing problem is not confined to scholars of Middle East political systems. A number of the best-known US scholars of Islam are severely lacking in their knowledge of Arabic. The same is true of many high-profile historians and economists whose work focuses on the Middle East.
5. For an excellent discussion of the intellectual underpinnings of "area-based knowledge," see Kenneth Prewitt, "Presidential Items," Items: Social Science Research Council, 50 (June-September 1996), pp. 31-40.
6. Jerrold Green has also made this point. For his more extensive list of Political Science departments that lack senior scholars with Middle East expertise, see Green, "The Politics of Middle East Politics," PS, 27 (September 1994), p. 517.
7. Kazemi, Cantori, Norton, and Reich have done research in other Middle Eastern contexts and have sought to work systematically and comparatively. Leonard Binder and John Waterbury head a short list of other political scientists who have also struggled to study political systems comparatively.
8. See, for example, Alan Richards and John Waterbury, A Political Economy of the Middle East: State, Class, and Economic Development (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990); Rex Brynen, Bahgat Korany and Paul Noble, eds., Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World: Theoretical Perspectives, vol. 1 (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1995); and Augustus Richard Norton, ed., Civil Society in the Middle East, vols. 1 and 2 (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1995). It is instructive that most of the cross-national work appears either as edited collections or as multi-authored volumes.
9. See, for example, Alan Richards and John Waterbury, A Political Economy of the Middle East: State, Class, and Economic Development (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990); Rex Brynen, Bahgat Korany and Paul Noble, eds., Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World: Theoretical Perspectives, vol. 1 (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1995); and Augustus Richard Norton, ed., Civil Society in the Middle East, vols. 1 and 2 (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1995). It is instructive that most of the cross-national work appears either as edited collections or as multi-authored volumes.
10. See, for example, Alan Richards and John Waterbury, A Political Economy of the Middle East: State, Class, and Economic Development (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990); Rex Brynen, Bahgat Korany and Paul Noble, eds., Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World: Theoretical Perspectives, vol. 1 (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1995); and Augustus Richard Norton, ed., Civil Society in the Middle East, vols. 1 and 2 (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1995). It is instructive that most of the cross-national work appears either as edited collections or as multi-authored volumes.
11. The Politics of Social Change in the Middle East and North Africa (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963). The Halpern book has been superseded by James A. Bill and Robert Springborg, Politics in the Middle East, 4th ed. (New York: HarperCollins, 1994). The authors of the latter volume are in the process of preparing a fifth edition to be published by Longman.
12. The Politics of Social Change in the Middle East and North Africa (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963). The Halpern book has been superseded by James A. Bill and Robert Springborg, Politics in the Middle East, 4th ed. (New York: HarperCollins, 1994). The authors of the latter volume are in the process of preparing a fifth edition to be published by Longman.
13. The two Persian Gulf wars provided a field day for the instant experts, who fell over one another condemning Iran and supporting Iraq in the first war (1980-88) while condemning Iraq and ignoring Iran in the second war (1990-91). Few commentators bothered to inquire whether Iran might have a point of view in the first war or whether there was any possibility that Iraq might have a defensible reason for its actions in the second war.
14. A limited countervailing force to the influence of the instant experts is the existence of a knowledgeable cadre of former US diplomats and government officials who have lived and worked in the Middle East. Individuals such as Hermann Eilts, Parker Hart, David Long, David Newsom, Richard Parker, William Rugh, Gary Sick, Michael Sterner, and Edward Djerejian have scholarly credentials and have provided informed perspectives on Middle East politics.
15. These and other "senior" political scientists owe much to their mentors, a generation that included such distinguished scholars as Leonard Binder, Manfred Halpern, Jacob C. Hurewitz, Majid Khadduri, George Lenczowski, and Rouhollah K. Ramazani.
16. Earlier examples of the systematic study of informal politics in the Middle East include John Waterbury's study of Morocco in 1970, my work on Iran in 1972, and Robert Springborg's research on Egypt in 1982. The serious return to the study of informal political networks is witnessed in the more recent publication of two important books: Guilain Denoeux, Urban Unrest in the Middle East: A Comparative Study of Informal Networks in Egypt, Iran, and Lebanon (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993); and Diane Singerman, Avenues of Participation: Family, Politics, and Networks in Urban Quarters of Cairo (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995). See also Shafeeq N. Ghabra's penetrating study, Palestinians in Kuwait: The Family and the Politics of Survival (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1987).
17. Earlier examples of the systematic study of informal politics in the Middle East include John Waterbury's study of Morocco in 1970, my work on Iran in 1972, and Robert Springborg's research on Egypt in 1982. The serious return to the study of informal political networks is witnessed in the more recent publication of two important books: Guilain Denoeux, Urban Unrest in the Middle East: A Comparative Study of Informal Networks in Egypt, Iran, and Lebanon (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993); and Diane Singerman, Avenues of Participation: Family, Politics, and Networks in Urban Quarters of Cairo (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995). See also Shafeeq N. Ghabra's penetrating study, Palestinians in Kuwait: The Family and the Politics of Survival (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1987).
18. Earlier examples of the systematic study of informal politics in the Middle East include John Waterbury's study of Morocco in 1970, my work on Iran in 1972, and Robert Springborg's research on Egypt in 1982. The serious return to the study of informal political networks is witnessed in the more recent publication of two important books: Guilain Denoeux, Urban Unrest in the Middle East: A Comparative Study of Informal Networks in Egypt, Iran, and Lebanon (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993); and Diane Singerman, Avenues of Participation: Family, Politics, and Networks in Urban Quarters of Cairo (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995). See also Shafeeq N. Ghabra's penetrating study, Palestinians in Kuwait: The Family and the Politics of Survival (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1987).