Over-Stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East

Excellent.

Great

Overstating the Arab State is the ironic title that Nazih Ayubi has chosen for his 'state' centered and Gramscian informed study of the nature of the Arab State in terms of its bureaucratic and interventionist development. The title also alludes to the overestimation of the actual power and strength of the Arab State. Ayubi has suggested that Arab states have been wrongly categorized as 'strong'; whereas, they are weak in terms of their extractive capacity, institutional strength and ideology. A principal political argument of the book centers on the notion that the Arab State has not moved beyond the coercive and corporative stage to create a political system that enjoys the consensus of civil society and includes it as a basic component. This is the kind of political strength that Gramsci categorized as hegemony considering its attainment to be the defining attribute of a Strong State. Within this definition of hegemony Ayubi has also understood a state's ability to reduce its involvement in the productive functions of the economy. According to Ayubi the Arab State rules on the basis of its monopoly of the coercive forces in society and violence that subjugate rather than complement society; thereby, it is better described as fierce than strong. Corporatism, or the domination of the institutions of the middle and working classes by the state in an attempt to create social and industrial harmony, has supplied the typical model of socio-political organization in the Arab world and applied to both monarchies and populist republics. Overall, an Excellent work. Ayubi died shortly after completing this book.

Nazih N. Ayubi makes a good analysis of the point. He gives both the historical background and the contemporary aspects of the issue. Instead of giving useless details, he focuses on the necessary aspects. the order of the book, the language, the level of the knowledge about the geographical area, which is of the interest are all perfect. If you are studying the arab states, the middle east or similar issues, you have to read it!

This book is awful. His writing style is arrogant and wordy, deliberately confusing, and completely inaccessible. It's as though he's getting paid by the word, and the last thing he wants is for anybody to understand what he's saying. A truly painful reading experience. Very few practical examples of the broad, Marxist claims he is making, and very irritating textual citations every second sentence that make reading it about as fun as a root canal.P.S. The one star above was a technical flaw in the program. If I had my way, rather than a star, I would have a giant black hole. Every time I sat down to read this giant cube book of drivel, I died a little inside. Truly the worst book I ever had to read.

This book smells terrible, and I would not buy from this vendor again. A number of other people in my class also have said the same thing as we all have the same problem. I would return it but I have to use it for assignments immediately, but it smells awful.

found all i needed, great book!

「このような研究こそ、現在の日本の中東研究に欠けている」と痛感した一冊。序章の頭にはこう書かれている：「（本書は）広義の『政治経済』アプローチを採用する。本書はアラブの著者らが地元の政治事情を分析するのに用いた手法に特に重きを置く一方で、より幅広い概念的・比較的視点を強調する。したがって、アラブ政治が風変わりかつ独特に『アラブ的』であるとみなされないようにすべきと提案するものである。」本書の構成はまさに最後の一文を意識したものと言う事ができる。第２章でアラブ・イスラームにおける国家論を歴史的観点から論じ（時代は中世以前に遡る！）、第３章で植民地・保護国時代を論じる。第４章では、アラブ・ナショナリズム興隆期における国家のあり方を論じる。後半の第10章では、それまでの議論を踏まえ、数十年前からアラブ世界でも行われるようになる経済的自由化とその国家への影響を論じている。第５章から９章では、階級、政治体制、軍民関係、官僚機構といったテーマから国家と社会を分析している。議論には、グラムシの国家論や、西欧出身のコーポラティズム論・エタティズム論などが扱われており、「比較政治におけるアラブ」の視点が多用されている。500ページ近くから成る本書の内容を簡潔に言い表すのは、小生のような浅学者にとり極めて困難なことである。しかし、誤解をおそれず、かつ反論・指摘をおそれずまとめてしまえば、アラブでは歴史的に社会に対する「国家」の役割が大きい、ということであろう。その「強い国家」は、決して植民地・保護国化時代につくられたものではなく、高度に歴史的なものであると論じる点が印象的であった。このことは近年中東の民主化に関する議論でよく唱えられる「レンティア国家論」にも通じる。刊行からはや１５年近く経つが、その研究手法と内容ともに色褪せない良書である。ただし、敢えて言えば、本書はいわゆる権威主義体制を有するアラブ諸国を対象にしたものである。したがって、レバノンや2003年以降のイラクにおける国家＝社会関係を視野に入れた改訂版が出れば、なお良いと思う。