Domestic government : kinship, community and polity in North Yemen / Martha Mundy.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 300-312) and index.

Note on anthropological terms and Arabic transliteration -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The locality: images of place and political order -- 3. Law in the locality -- 4. The village economy: agriculture and the market -- 5. House, household and family -- 6. Material exchange and moral order -- 7. Alliance: household, house and community -- 8. Conclusion -- App. 1: Notes on field research and statistical sources -- App. 2: Descriptive table of dispute settlement -- App. 3: Arabic documents -- App. 4: Statistical tables and figures.

Domestic Government explores the notion of 'household' as the site and organizing model not only of production but also of politics in Yemen's past and present. Its innovative vision of a house-based society challenges segmentary interpretations of traditional Arab rural societies and cuts across some of the key thematic divisions of Middle East studies such as 'the harem' and 'Islam'.

Based on three years' fieldwork in a village of North Yemen, the study is written from the vantage point of women's society but, insisting that domestic government is not the same as women's private domain, it is not confined to a study of women. Mundy instead links the idea and organization of the household with property and suggests subtle ways in which household and house relate to locality, region and wider notions of government and legal authority.