During the governmental void created by the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), the segmentary descent groups of the Beq'aa gained power by providing their members with benefits such as physical security, financial assistance, medical services and job opportunities. This created group solidarity which made the groups stronger. Fourteen years after the civil war, the government is reclaiming power, but the descent groups of the Beq'aa continue to be almost as strong as before the war and still provide similar services to their members thus generating mutual benefit to individuals and loyalty to the group. Members express loyalty to their groups despite increasing opposition from community members and the possibly high costs involved in clan membership. This dissertation research project by a cultural anthropologist will study factors supporting the persistence of corporate descent groups, and compare them to factors promoting alternative institutions such as the local community. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, this project explores the dynamics of cooperative behavior, loyalty and solidarity in segmentary descent groups in the contemporary Middle East. The project will shed light on how such groups provide an alternative to the state by providing public goods usually provided by states (e.g., security) and on how such actions engender loyalty and motivate cooperation among group members.
This project has broader impacts involving attempts at social reform, which are often driven mostly by force while lacking relevant local information. The research will expand Western knowledge of societies with strong segmentary descent groups and the loyalties these groups engender to gain power and sometimes to resist social change. Understanding the role descent plays in organizing the social structure and promoting cooperation will be helpful to planners and NGOs concerned with understanding local economic processes and economic development in these rural areas. The project also advances the education of a young social scientist.
