Description
Book SynopsisThis ethnography studies how, when, and under what circumstances culture change occurs. It is author Hsain Ilahiane''s conviction that culture change directly affects resource use and community building processes. This study investigates the relationship between ethnicity and agricultural production at the household level, as well as the result of recent ethnic transformations in the restructuring of patterns of land access and social mobility within ethnically stratified communities. Ilahiane focuses specifically on the intensive farming systems of Morocco''s Ziz Oasis, a 250 km long expanse watered by the Ziz River. Surrounded by Saharan desert, the valley houses a dense, rapidly grown, and ethnically diverse population of Arabs, Berbers, and Haratine (blacks). The author employs a varied body of data collected during fieldwork, including ethnographic accounts, oral histories and colonial archival records, and socio-economic and ecological findings based on a household questionnair
Table of ContentsChapter 1 List of Figures Chapter 2 List of Photographs Chapter 3 List of Tables Chapter 4 Preface Chapter 5 A Note on Transliteration Chapter 6 Ethnicities, Community Making, and Agrarian Change in the Ziz Oasis: An Introduction Chapter 7 The Cultural Ecology of the Ziz Oasis: An Ethno-geographical Narrative of the Ziz Oasis; Climate; Soils; Hydrology and Irrigation Infrastructure; Demography; Agriculture; Conclusion Chapter 8 The Political Ecology of the Ziz Oasis: "Those Who Have Incurred the Wrath of God"; The Ziz Oasis Evolutionary Drama of Power Struggles; The Saharan Caravan Trade; The Fate of Sijilmassa; The French Arrive to Tafilaet; Communities of Social Stratifi Chapter 9 The Traditional Social Organization of the Ziz Oasis Villages: The Ksar's Spatial Organization; The Ksar's Socio-political Organization; Law and Order; The Ksar's Economic Organization; Land Tenure Organization; Economic Differenti Chapter 10 The Ethnographic Present of the Ziz Oasis Agrarian Society: The Social History of the Villages; Population and Emigration; Households and Household Composition; Rules of Inheritance; Housing and Food Habits; The Ziz Oasis Work Force Structure; Marke Chapter 11 The Farming Systems of the Ziz Oasis: The Agricultural Calendar; The Irrigation System Organization; Land Use System and the Farming Systems; Land Tenure and the systems of Production; Agricultural Labor; Agricultural Technology; Livestock Raising; Chapter 12 Ethnic Stratification and Agricultural Intensification in the Ziz Oasis: Boserup and Agricultural Change; The Ecosystem Approach; Agricultural Intesification in the Ziz Oasis; Ethnic Cropping Systems; Ethnic Farming Systems; Does Ethnicity Matter in Chapter 13 The Politics of Ethnicities and Community Making in the Ziz Oasis: Bourdieu, Marx, and Weber; The Past and Present of the Haratine; The Ziz Oasis Senses of Community Making Chapter 14 Conclusions: The Political Ecology of the Ziz Oasis Chapter 15 Glossary of Arabic and Berber Terms Chapter 16 Bibliography Chapter 17 Index Chapter 18 Author Biographical Sketch
