The Hashemite Emirate of Transjordan. Political spaces and Tribal Culture

The aim of this paper is to analyze the course of state building dur- ing the Mandate period as a dynamic process which gave rise to a new socio-political field, both modern and traditional at the same time: the Hashemite state of Transjordan (1923). The state-building process was not only a direct consequence of the interaction between Hashemite and British interests in the Near East, but rather the result of the inter- action and effective overlap of these elements with the particular socio- political tribal system of Transjordan. Firstly, the paper will describe the local socio-political structure of Transjordan during the 19th cen- tury. It was during that period that the process of intertwining and overlapping between the logic of the ‘tribe’ and that of the ‘state’ began. Secondly, the paper describes the particular administrative structure of the Hashemite Emirate of Transjordan, which was based on a division between tribal administration and modern European administration. Thirdly, the paper describes how British colonial policies worked with the Hashemite method of rule and how the Muslim and Christians tribes of Transjordan reacted, raising the first political national move- ment and signing the National Pact (1929-1936). Finally, the paper de- scribes the achievements of the British-Hashemite and National Pact.