The Palestinian Peasant Economy under the Mandate: A Story of Colonial Bungling (Harvard Middle Eastern Monographs) [Paperback]

Amos Nadan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674021355 | ISBN-13: 978-0674021358 | Publication Date: June 30, 2006

Challenging the claim that Palestine's peasant economy progressed during the 1920s and 1930s, Amos Nadan skillfully integrates a wide variety of sources to demonstrate that the period was actually one of deterioration on both the macro (per capita) and micro levels. The economy would have most likely continued its downward spiral during the 1940s had it not been for the temporary prosperity that resulted from World War II. Nadan argues that this deterioration continued despite the British authorities' channeling of funds from the Jewish sector and the wealthier Arab sectors into projects for the Arab rural economy. The British were hoping that Palestine's peasants would not rebel if their economic conditions improved. These programs were, on the whole, defective because the British chose programs based on an assumption that the peasants were too ignorant to manage their farms wisely, instead of working with the peasants and their own institutions.

(20070301)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Drawing on a wide range of sources, from official documents to oral accounts by surviving participants, Amos Nadan has written an important new book on the Arab rural economy in mandate Palestine. The pattern of overall economic deterioration that Nadan charts challenges many of the conclusions arrived at by economic historians in recent years.
--Martin Bunton (International History Review )

About the Author

Amos Nadan is a senior researcher at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University and at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies (June 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674021355
• ISBN-13: 978-0674021358
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,877,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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