ALGUNAS POLÍTICAS DE FORMALIZACIÓN DE MICRO Y PEQUEÑAS EMPRESAS

The Arabian Peninsula (modern day Saudi Arabia) is the cradle of the religion of Islam and Arabian tribes (Blunt, 1881; Blunt & Blunt, 1968; Musil, 1928); these two institutions are fundamental to the social relations that characterise this society. In the spirit of understanding the cultural context of this study, I will provide, in what follows, a general overview of these social relations. I will do this while unpacking how these social relations are shaped by the institutions of tribe and religion drawing linkages to the cultural practice of wasta (discussed in chapter two), which imbues organisational lives in this context.

Societies in the Middle East and, specifically, Saudi Arabia are organised around large tribes, populations of which could extend beyond hundreds of thousands of individuals spanning several countries (Sowayan, 2010). There are numerous definitions of the tribe in the anthropological literature. Some of those definitions highlight the role of biological characteristics in the formation and organisation of tribes such as common descent and assignment of roles based on biological markers such as age, sex, or lineage (Emanuel, 1977). Sowayan, a Saudi Arabian anthropologist, argued that the Arabian tribe is best understood as a social institution geared toward the objective of survival in a harsh desert environment (Sowayan, 2010). In what follows, I will use these definitions to describe the cultural relations of Arabian tribes and how are they intermeshed with the religious values of Islam.

Ibn Khaldūn (1332-1406), a prominent 14th century “Arab thinker whose views about Arab […] culture have special currency in our times” (Rosen, 2005, p. 596), provided an insightful sociological analysis of Arabian tribes. His prolegomena, titled ‘Almuqaddima’ remains a seminal reference for anyone wanting to understand the Arab

tribal culture and how it is suffused by as well as, at times, exist in tension with the Islamic values (Algumzi, 2017). Ibn Khaldūn argued that Arabian tribes are characterised by a strong ‘Asabiya’, which can be translated as ‘group-feeling’. This group-feeling among the tribe is derived from perceived common lineage signified through sharing a common last name (Ibn Khaldūn, 1958; Ritter, 1948). Such group- feeling manifests in how people tend to favour their kin (i.e., those who share the same last name) over others. According to Ibn Khaldūn, the stronger the group-feeling in a tribe, the stronger and the more powerful that tribe becomes as a social unit. A strong group-feeling was believed to breed stronger compassion and solidarity among members of the tribe.

Historically, in the harsh Arabian desert environment tribes fought amongst each other over scarce resources (Emanuel, 1977). Group-feeling in such a context became a means of survival (Hoyland, 2001; Sowayan, 2010). Individuals exhibit their tribal group-feeling through helping and standing by fellow members of their tribe. This manifests in protecting their wealth from raids in the older Bedouin society or even favouring them over others in the modern society (Al-Ramahi, 2008). If a person fails to maintain and exhibit his/her tribal group-feeling, he/she risks being stigmatised in their community (Barnett et al., 2013). Acquiring such stigma is detrimental to an individual in such context; it means loss of face and support from other members of the tribe (see Blunt & Blunt, 1968; Musil, 1928).

Before the emergence of Islam, which is the dominant religion in the Arab world, Arabian tribes took pride in their group-feeling and used it as a marker of their superiority over other tribes (Abu-Lughod, 1999; Ibn Khaldūn, 1958). Islamic teachings prohibited such forms of ‘pride’ in group-feeling that result in injustice and inequity

among Muslims (Algumzi, 2017). At the same time, Islamic values, as per the teachings of the Quran and the Hadith (prophetic traditions) stress solidarity for kith and kin as a righteous deed that is rewarded in the life after death (At-Twaijri & Al-Muhaiza, 1996). Group-feeling thus is tolerated in the religion as long as it does not result in injustice and harm being afflicted upon others. In this perspective, religion becomes a governance system that helps to govern how tribal group-feeling should be desirably enacted in this context.

This governance of group-feeling through religion is not always enforced as it is influenced by an individual’s inclinations to adopt such religious values as well as the religiosity of key individuals such as tribal chiefs who exercise strong influence over the tribe. This was especially the case before the advent of modern states when the tribe was the main social collective a person belonged to and organised him/herself within (Emanuel, 1977). Many members of tribes maintained their group-feeling in ways that brought harm or disadvantages to others (i.e., through inequitable treatments or raiding and stealing other tribe’s possessions). This went against the values of the Islamic

religion, reflecting a tension between the institution of the tribe and that of religion and the relative strength of each of these social institutions (Ibn Khaldūn, 1958).

With the advent of modern states, the institution of the tribe weakened; especially in relation to other social institutions such as the religion and the state (Sowyan, 2010). The tribe became not the only social collective a person belongs to as people join modern institutions such as schools, universities and work within different forms of work organisations (Khoury & Kostiner, 1991). Nonetheless, Arabian Tribes, while not pastoral and as closely connected as they used to be before the advent of modern states and formal organisations, still exist today throughout the Middle East.

They adapted and maintained their group-feeling (Cole, 2003). For instance, nowadays throughout the Middle East, some tribes have their satellite TV channels, websites, and social media outlets (Maisel, 2014). They use these modern channels to maintain their heritage, share the stories of their past, connect with their present and maintain their ‘group-feeling’. They use these outlets to broadcast their social occasions and

gatherings in which they recite poems and stories that keep their group-feeling alive (Maisel, 2013, 2015).

Additionally, the tribe’s role as a support safety net remains strong; albeit in different forms than the past. An example of this is how tribal chiefs set up funds to support the financial needs of members of the tribe. The wealthy members of the tribe contribute annually to such funds which are used to help members who are in need (e.g., indebted persons, persons involved in legal issues and so forth) (see Al-Ramahi, 2008; Sowayan, 2010). This is an example of the collective logic that underpins the institution of the tribe and its group-feeling. The use of these ‘modern’ channels to maintain what is a ‘pre-modern’ institution—the tribe—illustrates the resilience and the continuing

relevance of the social values and relations that underpin the functioning of tribes in this context.

One current manifestation of the resilience of tribes, specifically tribal group- feeling, is the cultural practice of wasta in contemporary organisations in the Middle East. Wasta, as described in chapter two, is predicated on tribal collectivistic cultural relations and group-feelings. Individuals must honour the intercession of another esteemed person from their tribe (Lackner, 2016). Moreover, individuals must always maintain a favourable image of the tribe through their everyday conduct; especially since individuals’ last names in this context reflect their tribe’s name. These relations

are, at times, legitimised through drawing on the religious values and teachings that promote solidarity and cohesion among kith and kin (At-Twaijri & Al-Muhaiza, 1996).

These relations and sentiments imbue organisational lives in this Middle Eastern context. It is expected that employees engage in wasta to help their kin or whom their kin intercede on their behalf (Lackner, 2016). Moreover, employees are expected to engage in wasta through respecting elderly citizens, or senior figures from other tribes as doing so is, first, religiously desirable; second, it reflects positively on their tribes and families. Wasta, in this sense, can be seen as a manifestation of how the tension between the institution of the tribe and that of the religion is handled in contemporary Middle Eastern societies. In other words, the stronger expressions of tribal group- feeling such as raids and acquisitions of other tribes’ wealth have been counterbalanced by the strengthening of religious values that came with the modern state; hence, such acts have disappeared (Cole, 2003). Nonetheless, tribal group-feeling did not disappear and is now expressed through wasta, which is easier to legitimise religiously than raiding and stealing other tribes (Algumzi, 2017).

Understanding this milieu of religious and tribal values and relations is vital to understand the widespread and everyday enactments of the cultural practice of wasta in organisational settings, which I will explore in chapters five and six. Next, I will focus on the history of Saudi Arabia, which should be read in the light of the discussion of the religious and tribal relations in the Middle East that have been presented thus far.