The Social and Economic Origins of Monarchy in Jordan

An interpretative history of the emergence and consolidation of the modern state in Jordan, this book examines the resilience of the Hashemite monarchy and the economic sources of social power under Ottoman, British, and post-colonial Hashemite rule. This book seeks to explain the durability of the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan. In contrast to much of the existing literature, it seeks the answer neither in the statecraft of the Hashemite monarchs, nor in the dynamics of their policies on the Palestinian issue. Instead, it focuses on the political economy of East Banker loyalty. This is a necessary and welcome corrective to the pre-existing literature, because it highlights a crucial element - the political attitudes of the East Bankers - that has received altogether inadequate attention by previous scholars. The temporal focus of the book is on the period between the Arab Revolt during World War I and the end of the British Mandate in 1946 Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-14 The Historiography of Hashemite Rule....Pages 15-25 Before Hashemite Rule: Ottoman Order and Local Order in Southeastern Syria....Pages 27-39 The Origins of Hashemite Rule: From Ottomanism to Localism in Southeastern Syria....Pages 41-54 The Establishment of Hashemite Rule: The Evolution of Trans-Jordan....Pages 55-71 The Infrastructure of Mandatory Power in the Towns....Pages 73-82 The Infrastructure of Mandatory Power in the Steppe....Pages 83-93 From Mandate to Kingdom: The Social Origins of Hashemite Power in the Sown....Pages 95-112 The Cohesion of the East Bank: The Consolidation of Hashemite Power....Pages 113-129 Conclusion....Pages 131-138 Back Matter....Pages 139-221 "The Social and Economic Origins of Monarchy in Jordan endeavors to explain the resilience of the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan. In contrast to much of the existing literature, it seeks answers to the puzzle of the persistence of monarchical rule neither in the statecraft of the Hashemite monarchs, nor in the dynamics of their policies on the Palestinian issue. Instead, it focuses on the historical political economy of Trans-Jordan, locating the durability of Hashemite rule in the evolution of a monarchical social pact that exchanged loyalty for economic security and bound the peasants and pastoralists of the East Bank to the throne"-- Provided by publisher