ABSTRACT
The establishment of Hawi al-Hawa village and its subsequent development are expressions of broader socio-economic transformations occurring throughout the Jezira-Euphrates region. This chapter describes the foundation, structure and history of the village of Hawi al-Hawa, about ten kilometres from al-Raqqa. With wealth derived from sheep rearing, Hajj Khalaf al-Meshrif purchased land on the bank of the Euphrates and in 1950 he and his family started to build homes. They brought their distant relatives to settle in the village and work the land. From the beginning the village has specialized in the production of cotton for the national market economy, and thus has always been dependent upon broader socio-economic and cultural structures of the larger national society. Due to land reform measures in the 1960s the state expropriated about two-thirds of the al-Meshrif land, which was redistributed among 69 peasants living in the village. Since then the village has been split socially. During the 1970s, the village saw many technological improvements – a paved road to Raqqa, a mosque, an elementary and preparatory school, a Peasants’ Cooperative and Collective, and electricity. In 1980, there are just over 1,000 inhabitants, 50% under the age of 16.
