The Arab World: Society, Culture, and State (Paperback)

by Halim Barakat (Author) "One highly distinctive feature of contemporary Arab society is the alarming gap between reality and dream..." (more)
Key Phrases: communal cleavages, salafiyya movement, double criticism, Middle East, World War, Gulf War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
This scholarly work by sometime novelist Barakat (sociology, Georgetown Univ.) is a thorough, theoretical, yet practical analysis of Arab society. Barakat views the Arab world as a dynamic, evolving whole, containing immense diversity but still potentially cohesive and strong, provided the current pervasive alienation of its people can be overcome. Given the unwillingness of Arab regimes to truly reform their societies, Barakat sees only two options for the future of the Arab people: traditional religious (reactionary) vision or progressive secular vision. This book provides the Western reader with a wealth of historic and contemporary information, and is especially welcome because it presents an Arab view. It is not an easy book to absorb; it is well written but complex and can be dry and redundant at times. Still, this is a valuable addition to the body of works on the Arab world written in English by Arab scholars and will be a useful reference/textbook for Arab studies and comparative sociology courses. Recommended for academic libraries and others with large collections on the Middle East. --Ruth K. Baacke, Bellingham P.L., Wash
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
A look at Arab culture by Barakat (Sociology/Georgetown Univ.), an expatriate Syrian. Barakat's vision is that of the nahda, or Arab ``renaissance'': ``How is it possible to achieve unity, democracy, secularism, and social justice in a society burdened with fragmentation, authoritarianism, traditionalism, religious fundamentalism, patriarchy, erosion of a sense of shared civil society, pyramidal social class structure, and dependency?'' While he supplies no easy answers, the author does offer a provocative discussion of Arab phenomena--for example, in his view of religion as including an ``alienating'' component, and in his dismissal of it as a ``revolutionary or transformative movement'' because, he says, it subjugates believers and merely establishes a new elite in place of the old. Central to Barakat's view of the ``single, overarching society'' of the Arab world is the idea that this world is in a state of continual change--contradicting Western Orientalist views of it as static. Barakat loses few opportunities to browbeat Orientalist scholars but his rhetoric is neither so new--Edward Said routed the Orientalists a decade ago, and better- -nor so eloquent that it goes much beyond ideological ornamentation; moreover, when Barakat belabors Western Orientalist scholars for their lack of fieldwork, he reveals his own reliance on texts. He winds up his discussion with a knowledgeable, essentially political, typology of Arab literature, and with a discussion of 20th-century Arab thought. Underneath the rhetoric here, there's an erudite but hardly revolutionary summation of the state of the Arab world. A well- informed study, then, but one that's agenda-heavy. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (October 14, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520084276
• ISBN-13: 978-0520084278
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #554,956 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read book, accurate explaination, March 6, 2003

By	"[e-mail]" (Lebanon) - See all my reviews

This book explains why Raphael Patai's book "The Arab Mind" is wrong and stereotyped.
Barakat explains here everything accurately. A must read!

3 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read book, accurate explaination, March 6, 2003

By	"[e-mail]" (Lebanon) - See all my reviews

This book explains why Raphael Patai's book "The Arab Mind" is wrong and stereotyped.
Barakat explains here everything accurately. A must read!