This book explores the tribal politics of the Awlad ‘Ali Bedouin in the borderland of Egypt and Libya. These tribal politics are part of heterarchy in which sovereignty is shared between tribes, states and other groups and, within this dynamic setting, the local politicians of the Awlad ‘Ali are essential producers of order beyond the framework of the nation state. Based on long-term fieldwork, this monograph is ideal for audiences interested in North African Politics, Libya, Egypt, and borderland studies.

Of all the countries in North Africa and the Middle East, less has been known about Libya for decades. Only recently have we begun to appreciate the complexity of Libya’s turbulent past, including the revolution in 2011 in which demands for better living conditions and more job opportunities led to widespread protests. When the Muammar al-Qaddafi regime responded with force to these peaceful protests, killing scores of unarmed civilians, the protesters called for regime change. In what came to be known as the February 17 Revolution, the 42-year-old Qaddafi regime was overthrown, and Qaddafi was killed in October 2011. Over the next decade, Libya endured a series of interim, transitional governments in a prolonged struggle to draft a new constitution and to elect a democratic national government. Historical Dictionary of Libya, Sixth Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Libya.

Articoli / Articles Mouldi Lahmar, Arab Spring, Colonial Knowledge, and Foreign Intervention in Libya: The Revival of “Tribe” Fantahun Ayele, The Life of Däǧǧač Abba Wǝqaw Bǝrru: Some Notes on Sirak’s Manuscript (Addis Ababa, Institute of Ethiopian Studies, MS 400) Biyan G. Okubagherghis, Livelihood and Sustainability in the Eritrea-Ethiopia Borderland: A Case Study of Soräna Chama Kaluba Jickson, Food Security and State Agricultural Policies: The Long History of Cassava in Zambia from the Pre-Colonial Period to 1990 Angelo Del Boca, La “Lectio” Recensioni / Reviews Alessandra Brivio, Donne, emancipazione e marginalità (Gaetano Ciarcia) Stefano Bellucci and Andreas Eckert (eds.), General Labour History of Africa (Jean Copans) Autori / Contributors

The first study of an important political nexus in today's Islamist insurgencies, the better to understand their evolution.

Regime change in Libya (2011) and Iraq (2003) catapulted a host of sub-state actors to the fore, including tribes, which have emerged as influential political, security and social actors. But despite this increased role and visibility, tribes remain poorly understood. Often mistakenly associated with the 'periphery' or with 'pre-national' or 'pre-modern' forms of political organisation, they are routinely portrayed as the antithesis of the state. Yet tribes--the Middle East's oldest, most enduring and most controversial social entities--have proved able to adapt and evolve, entering into mutually beneficial relationships with various regimes. Based on interviews with tribal sheikhs, tribal representatives and other stakeholders, Alison Pargeter traces the role of the tribe in Libya and Iraq from the revolutionary nationalist period into the fraught transitions that followed. She reveals how tribes have succeeded in developing a presence in national and local political structures; how they have engaged and bargained with major powerbrokers; and how they have become important security providers in their own right. Contrary to modernist approaches seeking to write the obituary of the tribe, this book shows how tribes have not only survived in Libya and Iraq, but remain a key component of the state in both countries.

The debate on governance originates in the OECD world. At the latest since the postcolonial debate, we know that we need to “test” our assumptions under radically different conditions. This book offers an extended perspective of local self-governance by examining cases from South Asia, Africa, and Latin America, together with a study of militias in the USA. The chapters present a wide variety of local actors who pursue different notions of order legitimized by local traditions based on hierarchy or deeply rooted communalism, Islamic theology, or grassroots democracy. Some local actors claim a state-like authority and challenge the territorial state. In such cases, there is no longer “a shadow hierarchy” but opposition to the state. Different violent actors fight for supremacy, and the state is just one actor among others. The empirical studies presented in this book show how different kinds of local self-governance are combined with varieties of statehood, and thus contribute to an understanding of the notion of governance in a fundamental sense that goes beyond the special case of the OECD world.