Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Power, Sect and State in Syria: The Politics of Marriage and Identity amongst the Druze

Power, Sect and State in Syria: The Politics of Marriage and Identity amongst the Druze

Kastrinou, A. Maria a.

Hardcover

Series: Library of Modern Middle East Studies

IslamGeneral Racism & Ethnic StudiesGeneral Sociology

ISBN10: 1784532207
ISBN13: 9781784532208
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: Mar 31 2016
Pages: 288
Weight: 1.05
Height: 1.00 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.60
Language: English

The Syrian state's rhetoric of Arab nationalism left little room for the official recognition of minority identities in pre-war Syria. Yet in practice, the state continually engaged with the Druze and other minorities to reinforce its legitimacy, often through cultural policy. Uncovering this neglected aspect of pre-war Syrian politics, Kastrinou explores the cultural politics of marriage in Syria, primarily among the Druze, to reveal how practical rituals of marriage inform sectarian and national identity formation.Challenging the assumed inherence of sectarianism and Druze endogamy, the book provides an historical and ethnographic account of political power and its relation to social control in Syria. It demonstrates the centrality of the body to Druze cosmology and how ritual performances of birth, marriage and death maintain and negotiate sectarian cohesion. Connecting these struggles to national and international politics, Kastrinou examines how both the Syrian government and the European Union have sponsored marriage-themed dance performances in Syria, each leveraging its cultural importance to legitimise their own policy goals.

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