Tribal Modern is a concise yet nuanced description of the Arab Gulf’s pre-modern history and its path to current modernity. Miriam Cooke masterfully introduces and creates the juxtaposing (to the West) idea of a tribal and modern society coexisting in the same time and space, mixing and simultaneously, not mixing. Through Cooke’s inclusion of anecdotal evidence combined with the inclusion of expert opinions, the reader manages to gain a comprehensive understanding of the subject at hand.
Cooke explains that through adaptations of a traditional, often make-believe past, the post-oil Gulf states have created a unique brand for themselves, one that suggests luxury while satisfying the Western desire of orientalism. In her book, Cooke argues that for the Gulf states, “tribal” has become synonymous with “authentic”: therefore, any traces of foreign influence and cultural appropriation from an “other” must be erased. Cooke writes, “the fantasy of first exposure to outsiders must be maintained” (Cooke 28). This has created an intolerance for foreigners and outsiders to appropriate the Arab Gulf’s culture.
Furthermore, this adaptation of fake traditions serves to establish the privilege of the elite tribal minority by asserting them unique right to citizenship and exclusive entitlement to national wealth. Cooke points out that while many would believe that the grasp of tradition would decrease as a country’s income increased, the opposite has happened in the Gulf states. Because these countries are now composed of a foreign, second-class citizen majority, the grasp of untarnished tradition is a clear sign of elite tribal lineage.
The legitimacy of the systematic way of appointing privilege and national wealth through tribal lineage is evident in Cooke’s interactions with Qatari university students. When surveyed about how much tribe factors into a potential marriage partner, many indicated that tribe held some importance when looking at marriage compatibility (Cooke 42). The importance of this ethnographic effort cannot be underestimated—Cooke took what she found to be a peculiar aspect of Gulf tradition and expanded formal research effort that shed light into it.
Interestingly, those who are familiar with Modernization Theory will constantly think about it while reading this book. Modernization Theory explains the modernization of the nation-state as it being a linear path, beginning with a “third-world” country, and the end product being essentially, a copy of the US, in all its democratic and capitalistic ways. Cooke’s argument that tribal and modern aspects aren’t contradictory, and that they complement each other, serves to disprove this neocolonialist way of thinking. There should not be one trajectory to modernization, and the final product doesn’t have to be an exact copy of the US.
Furthermore, by whose standards is the intellectual community measuring “modernization”? The system used by one country should not be imposed across the globe, because this system does not account for nuances integral to different societies. The West, by placing itself on a pedestal, has assumed that there is nothing it can learn from countries that do not share its ideologies. However, even beside that point, the notion of tribal wear contradicting modernity sounds absurd from a practical stance. For example, jeans as casual wear are impractical. They are thick and heavy, making them harder to wash and dry than an ‘abaya. So then the question is: Why is the former celebrated as an indicator of modernity and the latter considered a clinging tribal relic by Western standards? Through Tribal Modern, Cooke dispels the idea of this divide, and with that, the assumption that they are mutually exclusive.
The beauty of this book is that it is appropriate for both the academic community, and for the average reader. Anyone with even the slightest hint of interest in the Middle East, or history in general will enjoy. Its anecdotal evidence, combined with concise points, make for an enjoyable short, relevant, and informational read. Seeing the Arab Gulf through Cooke’s eyes is a one of the least problematic ways to introduce this area of the world. There is a stark difference between culture in the West, and culture in the Middle East, regardless of how much of it has been fabricated to create a brand. With the current rise in xenophobic tendencies in the Western world, these differences are often left unexplored and frowned upon. This book will be integral in bridging that divide.
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