ABSTRACT
There are two very different narratives of rural history in the Middle East. The fi rst was common thirty years ago; the second is fashionable today. In the former, rural history is a dramatic story of swift changes and fundamental transformations. It is a tale of the invasion of economics and politics into a traditional pastoral society, ending quite often, in a revolution, whether the rural people themselves wanted it or not. Those who wished to transform the rural areas, according to this view, were successful in their overall scheme. These transformers were city people – politicians and businessmen – who brought about change contrary to the wishes of the rural people who wanted to protect and maintain their old ways of life.
