idealisation tourism branding dual ities modernity
culture nomadism by calvin chiu
the Bedouin legacy in the globalised era
The Beduin of the desert, born and grown up in it, had embraced with all his soul this nakedness too harsh for volunteers, for the reason, felt but inarticulate, that there he found himself indubitably free. He lost material ties, comforts, all superfluities and other complications to achieve a personal liberty which haunted starvation and death… In this life he had air and winds, sun and light, open spaces and a great emptiness. There was no human effort, no fecundity in Nature: just the heaven above and the unspotted earth beneath. There unconsciously he came near God. — T E Lawrence 1
Postcard of Bedouin family in Tunisia, 1899.
T E Lawrence did not invent the Bedouin myth. Derived from Arabic Badawi which means ‘desert dweller’, for centuries the Bedouin have wandered the Arabian deserts in search of seasonal pastures for their herds of camels, goats and sheep, and occasionally horses, cattle and donkeys. Many scholars and religious teachers in history saw the Bedouin way of life as an ideal ascetic life that resembled desert retreats of ancient prophets. To them, the Bedouin tribes were wise and courageous, who penetrated the deserts at will and lived in close harmony with nature. In contrast, ancient caravan parties often brought back terrifying tales on how brutal Bedouins attacked, plundered and robbed desert travellers. Villagers who lived near the deserts saw the Bedouins as filthy, ignorant, miserable and cruel barbarians. For generations, these conflicting views have nurtured the making of an evolving Bedouin myth inseparable from the Arabian deserts. Despite various circumstances after World War Two that led to Bedouin sedentarisation, the myth continues to inspire literature and cinema, to enhance global tourism in the deserts and to enrich the national heritage of the Arab nations. In the era of globalisation, the contemporary Bedouin myth is largely built upon cultural stereotypes and a collective nostalgia for pre- modern living. It has simplified, romanticised and fixed certain aspects of the Bedouin legacy into representational images and customs that can be consumed both locally and globally. The aftermath of World War Two put an end to colonisation in the Middle East. Most Bedouin returned to their homelands after the war, only to find that their traditional pastoral grounds were now restricted by new national boundaries, and many parts of the desert had been littered with landmines. Having lost all their grazing herds during the war and had little employment alternatives, the Bedouin were extremely poor in the 1950s. Without access to modern healthcare and education, almost all Bedouin were illiterate and had a very high mortality rate. 2 It was commonly agreed among Arab nations that urgent action was needed to transform the Bedouin way of life. Some officials even believed that ‘nomadism and semi-nomadicism are wasteful
and destructive’. 3 Further to the state’s concerns, it was next to impossible to tax the nomads or to conscript them into military service. It was equally challenging to develop and commodify land ownership in the deserts, where the Bedouin had moral and social claims but no legal rights. In 1952, the Arab League officially called for full Bedouin settlement with strong support from the United Nations. Throughout the next few decades, a series of aid programs from the UN, international aid organizations, Arab states and regional agencies were introduced to settle the Bedouin and establish agricultural cooperatives in the Arabian steppes. In 1963 it was agreed between Egypt and the World Food Program to convert 4,000 Bedouin families in northwest Egypt to sedentary farming and livestock production. Each Bedouin family was free, dependent on approval from a local engineer, to select a site for house construction. While food, fodder, construction and technical assistance and monetary aid were provided by the World Food Program, the Egyptian government covered all local expenses of the program, offered extended loans and additional food aid when foundation and structural works were well underway, and supplied wood beams, window frames, a door and a gate as construction progressed. 4 Given the decline in camel demand and sequential droughts in the 1950s and 1960s, most Bedouin were willing to accept sedentarism. Through aid programs such as the World Food Program project in Egypt, scattered homesteads mushroomed near farms and pastures in the Arabian deserts and steppes. Primary schools and basic health units emerged along new highways. Socio-economic transformations turned out to be the biggest support for Bedouins in adopting their new way of life: diversification of local economies, modernisation of infrastructure, rapid urbanisation of regional towns and emergence of employment mobility provided options to replace nomadism.
On Site review 24
46
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator