Middle East in Conflict
P., S.
SOCIAL FORCES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, edited by Sidney N. Fisher. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N. Y. 282 pp. plus xvi. $5.00. This collection of essays and studies on the Middle East was...
...The people of this area of the world are struggling to adjust to new conditions...
...In addition, introductory and concluding essays examine overall trends and the larger problems that have brought this area of the world into current importance...
...their loyalties conflict as they strive to find new paths...
...Some are excellent and highly informative...
...Thus, individual studies deal with traditional figures of the Middle East: the Nomads and their function...
...Still, this seems to be a pioneering work of its type in a little known field...
...the Industrial Worker and his activity...
...the class of modern Entrepreneurs and, associated with them, economic planners...
...many are marred by dullness of concept and style and a faulty handling of materials...
...These are the principal topics handled in this book...
...This collection of essays and studies on the Middle East was brought together by its editor with a novel purpose in mind...
...To describe and illuminate this clash, what could be more helpful than to discuss these people as social beings, each pursuing his particular role against a changing background...
...the Bazaar Merchant and his share in the Middle Eastern economic life...
...the Villager who constitutes the vast majority of the population...
...If the editor's approach and the vision of his book is commendable for its imaginative sweep, we cannot always say the same for the individual studies...
...the Army Officer, center of political activity...
...the Minority groups, forming an intricate network...
...The situation of each class or group is described and analyzed, its conflicting interests are brought into focus...
...the Intellectual in the Westernized and Islamic versions...
...the Israeli farmer, a new and modern factor...
...the Immigrant in Israel and his counterpart, the Arab Refugee...
Vol. 4 • September 1957 • No. 4
