Alcohol in the Maghreb and the Middle East since the Nineteenth Century: Disputes, Policies and Practices (St Antony's Series)

This book explores the significance of alcohol in the Middle East and Maghreb as a powerful catalyst of social and political division. It shows that the solidarities and polarities created by disputes over alcohol are built on arguments far more complex than oppositions on religion or consumption alone. In a region in which alcohol is banned by Islamic rules, yet allows its production and consumption, alcohol has always been contentious. However, this volume examines the different forms of social authority – religious, cultural and political – to offer a new understanding of drinking behaviours in the Middle East and North Africa. It suggests that alcohol, being at the same time an import and product of local industry, epitomises the tensions inherent to the conforming of Islamic societies to global trends, which seek to redefine political communities, social hierarchies and gender roles. The chapters challenge common misconceptions about alcohol in this region, arguing instead that medical discourses on alcohol dependency hide stances on national independence in an imperialist context; that the focus on religion also tends to conceal disputes on alcohol as a social struggle; and that disputes on inebriation are more about masculinity than judging private leisure. In doing so, the volume presents alcohol as a way of grasping the power relations that structure the societies of the Middle East and Maghreb. Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures Introduction: Alcohol, Public Debate, and the Inescapability of Islamic References The Üsküdar Affair (2006): A Battle in the Turkish Culture Wars Alcohol, Social Acceptability, and the Redefinition of the Public Space From Normalisation to Hiding in Plain Sight: A Literature Survey Three Misconceptions: Dependency, Religion, and the Vulnerability of the Individual An Outline of this Book Bibliography Part I: Science and Politics Turkey’s Prohibition in 1920: Modernising an Islamic Law Introduction Alcohol Prohibition and the Early Temperance Movement in the Ottoman Empire Hilâl-i Ahdar and the Idea of Alcohol Ban The Alcohol Ban Law of 1920 Conclusion Bibliography Unknowable Social Problems or Competing Regimes of Truth? Surveying Alcohol in Mandatory Palestine and Syria-Lebanon (1918–1948) Introduction Between Social Problems and Economic Development The Defensive Function of Official Enquiries Constructing Proof Miscellaneous Objects of Enquiries Strategies of Proof Inadequate Sources of Data Conclusion Bibliography Ordinary Drinking? Place and Politics of Alcohol in Lebanon Introduction Alcohol and Advertising: Absolut Civil Love Alcohol in Lebanon: Trends and Flows Renewals in Local Production An “Alcogenic” Country? The Visibility of Alcohol: Advertising and Branding Shaping the Flow: Competing Regulations of Alcohol Political Influence and the Place of Alcohol Private Companies as a Growing Actor Drinking Patterns between Performance and Transgression Performing Gender in Nightlife Venues Alcohol, Transgression and Invisibility Conclusion Bibliography Part II: Normative Systems and Negotiated Interests Alcohol and Religious Practices in Meknes (Morocco): Between Rejection and Compromise Introduction Daily Religion and Alcohol Consumption Refrain from Drinking Alcohol During Ramadan Continue to Drink Alcohol During Ramadan Alcohol, a “Crossroads Object” Revealing the Variability of Religious Practices in Islam Bibliography Morocco 1912–1956: The Most Prohibitive of the French Colonies? Introduction The First World War and the Creation of an Original Pattern of Imperial Prohibition Fighting Alcoholism: A Reason for the French Intervention in Morocco The First World War, the Rise of French Prohibition The Interwar: The Climax of French Prohibition in Morocco The Continuity of Prohibitionist Policies In Contradiction to the Development of a Local Economy of Alcohol A Limited Repression Exerted with a Soft Touch The Impossible Prohibition? (1940–1956) The Second World War, a New Moment of Prohibition to Muslims 1945 and Beyond: A Lighter Touch An Enduring Contradiction Between Prohibition and the Reality of Alcohol Consumption Conclusion Bibliography Drinking in Turkey: From Social Coexistence to Ideological Confrontation The Invisibility of Alcohol in Public Areas: Where Drinkers Are Outcasts A Scarcity of Places Where Alcohol Can Legally be Bought or Drunk Concentration and Ostracism in Public Spaces Campaigns and Stigmatisations “Alcohol Is the Mother of All Evils”: The AKP Crusade Against Alcohol Who Drinks, Where, What, and with Whom? The Lines of Arguments and the Underlying Debate The Effects of the AKP Crusade on Alcohol: Moving Away from the Social Status Quo Bibliography Part III: Contested Spaces Drinking in Times of Change: The Haunting Presence of Alcohol in Egypt A Present Absence Teetotal Sectarianism A Sober Revolution A Virgin Revolution (Dis-)Connected with Alcohol Conclusions: A Haunting, Travelling Song Bibliography Production and Consumption of Alcohol in Ramallah: Steadfastness, Religion, and Urban Rhythms Introduction Production of Alcohol in Palestine: Between Sumûd (Steadfastness) and haram (Forbidden) The Archipelago of Spaces in Ramallah: Distinction and Consumption of Alcohol Places of Alcohol in Ramallah Times of Alcohol: Ramallah by Night and by Day, Rhythms, Norms, and Reputation Conclusion Bibliography Part IV: Ambivalences and Anxieties Epilogue Bibliography Index