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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Class And Kinship In Sudanese Urban Communities, Richard Lobban Apr 2012

Class And Kinship In Sudanese Urban Communities, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

This article represents some of the results of three field research studies of urbanization in the Sudan. The research has focussed on two urban communities in the Khartoum area, those known as Tuti Island' and Burri al Mahas.2 The first study was conducted as doctoral research in 1970-72; a brief re-study took place in 1975, and most recently research was conducted in 1979-80. This ten-year period was a time during which major economic and demographic change occurred in the urban Sudan.


America And Political Islam, Richard Lobban Apr 2012

America And Political Islam, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

I received this book before 11 September 2001 and am reviewing it in the aftermath of that day. One could not imagine a more intense crucible in which to view a work on political Islam. Under the glare of the fiery collapse at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and with bombs falling on Taliban and al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, the work of an author and a reviewer requires even greater scrutiny.


Pigs And Their Prohibition, Richard Lobban Apr 2012

Pigs And Their Prohibition, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

Little is more central to the study of the modern Middle East than religion. Amidst the differences between the Judaic and Islamic traditions, both are unified about the religious prohibition of swine as a source of food. This taboo is one of the more significant common markers of their ethnicity and religious code.


A Genealogical And Historical Study Of The Mahas Of The "Three Towns," Sudan, Richard A. Lobban Jr. Apr 2012

A Genealogical And Historical Study Of The Mahas Of The "Three Towns," Sudan, Richard A. Lobban Jr.

Richard A Lobban

The Mahas (a Nubian ethnic group) in the central Sudan have made a fundamental contribution to the Islamization and urbanization of this Afro-Arab nation. Their building of the first permanent structures in the "Three Towns" (Khartoum area) may be claimed as the start of the modern process of Sudanese urbanization. The Mahas leaders who became teachers and advisors to the Funj state were also centrally responsible for the spread of Islam along the Blue and White Niles at their confluence at the "Three Towns" in communities which have been occupied continuously for about five centuries.


War Clouds On The Horn Of Africa, Richard Lobban Apr 2012

War Clouds On The Horn Of Africa, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

To review a book published five years ago describing a region in great turbulence is a great challenge. As one of those who has also written on aspects of the Horn of Africa it is tragically clear that the region's hostilities have brought misery and death for thousands. Resting with their remains are countless prophecies and predictions which had sought to analyze the latest events. These remarks may sound like defensive apologies of the author of this book, but I will defend him by assessing the difficulty of interpreting a dynamic and volatile region in the paroxysms of radical change.


From Slave To Pharaoh, Richard Lobban Apr 2012

From Slave To Pharaoh, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

Egyptologists often see Nubia as entirely dependent on its more powerful and better- known neighbor to the north. From Slave to Pharaoh instead gives the Nubians full credit for building a civilization that came to dominate Egypt, and contended with Assyria, the great superpower of the day, as an equal.


Arab Society, Richard A. Lobban Jr. Apr 2012

Arab Society, Richard A. Lobban Jr.

Richard A Lobban

Having studied the Arab world for three decades, I have noted the contemporary gridlock on many pressing regional, social, economic, and religious issues. This has often generated a parallel intellectual paralysis. So, I picked up the edited work by Hopkins and Ibrahim with some hesitation. How could there be any fresh insights? For a reviewer this sense of cynicism was not good.