Zones of Theory in the Anthropology of the Arab World

In 1987 I brought a copy of my newly published ethnography to the family that had hosted me during my fieldwork, from 1978 to 1980, in an Egyptian Bedouin community. No one in the community knew English; not many were literate even in Arabic . Yet it was important to me to offer them the book . They enjoyed the photographs, which I had carefully selected with an eye to the way people in the community would them, making certain that at least one member from each of the families I knew was included. We discussed the book and its purpose . My host thought it a pity I had published it in English since his interest was in persuading non-Bedouin Egyptians of the validity of his way of life. He wanted to know who in America was in­ terested-who would read it? Not many people in America were interested, I said, but I hoped it would be read by people who wanted to understand the Arabs-mostly students and scholars who specialized in understanding the different ways human beings around the world live. This description of anthropology's avowed purpose sounded odd in that context. Yes, my host remarked, knowledge is power (l-mi'rifa guwwa). The Americans and the British know everything. They want to know every­ thing about people , about us. Then if they come to a country, or come to rule it, they know what people need and they know how to rule. I laughed. Exactly! I said , and told him that a well-known book written by a Palestin­ ian professor in America had said just that. My Bedouin host had brought up an issue about the politics of scholarship that we as Western-oriented scholars