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Wasta: The Hidden Force in Middle Eastern Society First Edition

by Robert B. Cunningham (Author), Yasin Sarayrah (Author)
3.0 3.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating
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Wasta or mediation by a third party is traditional practice in most transactions in Middle Eastern societies. Senior members of the extended family intercede on behalf of younger or less privileged members in making arrangements for employment, overseas travel, business partnerships, university admissions, bank loans, marriages, and most other out-of-the-ordinary forms of negotiation. This book describes wasta's tribal foundation, its evolution in developing bureaucracies, and its present-day practice. The authors use Jordan as an example to illustrate the challenges of doing business with public organizations in Arab countries, where kinship, ethnicity, religion, locale, and class render some individuals more privileged than others.

Some wasta practices are legal and moral within a cultural context, resembling the services provided by attorneys, real estate brokers, and accountants in the West. Other wasta acts are illegal or questionable, but are mandated by family members in a traditional web of inter-connecting obligations. After describing wasta, the authors show how it functions to allocate scarce resources and obtain peace and justice in a desert environment. They then show how it has changed to adapt to modern governmental and bureaucratic situations in which special skills are required to deal with new and complicated rules and procedures. Settings where wasta may be observed in action are described in detail, such as the customs office, the university, government ministries, and local businesses. Personal profiles and family situations lend color to the sociological and political analyses of wasta as it is shown in both its empowering and restrictive aspects. To summarize the impact of wasta, the authors use common theory to explain why persons turn public resources to private benefit, spreading the costs over the entire community and supporting the view that wasta can have a negative effect on economic development. The authors present a solution by suggesting that wastas themselves be enlisted in alleviating the social ills created by overdependence on the wasta system, and that past Arab and Islamic traditions should be explored for answers to modern problems.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0275944026
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0274650101
  3. Edition
    First Edition
  4. Publisher
    Praeger
  5. Publication date
    April 20, 1993
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6.14 x 0.56 x 9.21 inches
  8. Print length
    224 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

ROBERT B. CUNNINGHAM is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Tennessee. He has written three other books, including The Bank and the Bureau (Praeger, 1988), on organizational development in the Middle East, as well as more than a dozen articles in academic and professional journals.

YASIN K. SARAYRAH is Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration at Yarmouk University in Jordan. He has worked for eight years in the Jordanian government, given papers at several international conferences, and has designed and delivered management training programs in the Middle East and the United States.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Praeger; First Edition (April 20, 1993)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0275944026
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0274650101
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.56 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.0 3.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating

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  • Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum, Philadelphia
    3.0 out of 5 stars Wasta: The Hidden Force in Middle Eastern Society
    Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2001
    "Understanding wasta is key to understanding decisions in the Middle East, for wasta pervades the culture of all Arab countries and is a force in every significant decision. . . . Wasta is a way of life." What is this mysterious force? Nothing very surprising: wasta is Arabic for connections, pull.
    To study wasta, the authors focus on Jordan in the no doubt correct expectation that the phenomenon there broadly represents what's to be found elsewhere in the Muslim Middle East. They find that wasta has changed over time. Patrons who used to help their followers mostly for reasons of prestige now seek money rewards. Also, its main goal has changed from defusing tribal conflict to acquiring economic benefits: "Wasta evolved from conflict resolution as a means of survival to intercession to maintain one's place of honor in contemporary Jordan." Wasta has a positive side (humanizing the bureaucracy) but also serves as an "affirmative action for the advantaged" which has the effect of entrenching the haves and excluding the have-nots; it makes life miserable for concientious officials trying to live by the law but called on by family obligations to help their own.
    Though social scientists, Cunningham and Sarayrah avoid jargon and considerately consign the theoretical passages to separate chapters. As a result, Wasta not only provides insights into an overlooked facet of Middle Eastern life, but is a pleasure to read.
    Middle East Quarterly, December 1994
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