States of Subsistence : The Politics of Bread in Contemporary Jordan / José Ciro Martínez.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Martínez, José Ciro, author.

Series:

Stanford studies in Middle Eastern and Islamic societies and cultures.

Stanford Studies in Middle Eastern and Islamic Societies and Cultures Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public welfare.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (250 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2022]

Summary:

On any given day in Jordan, more than nine million residents eat approximately ten million loaves of khubz 'arabi—the slightly leavened flatbread known to many as pita. Some rely on this bread to avoid starvation; for others it is a customary pleasure. Yet despite its ubiquity in accounts of Middle East politics and society, rarely do we consider how bread is prepared, consumed, discussed, and circulated—and what this all represents. With this book, José Ciro Martínez examines khubz 'arabi to unpack the effects of the welfare program that ensures its widespread availability. Drawing on more than a year working as a baker in Amman, Martínez probes the practices that underpin subsidized bread. Following bakers and bureaucrats, he offers an immersive examination of social welfare provision. Martínez argues that the state is best understood as the product of routine practices and actions, through which it becomes a stable truth in the lives of citizens. States of Subsistence not only describes logics of rule in contemporary Jordan—and the place of bread within them—but also unpacks how the state endures through forms, sensations, and practices amid the seemingly unglamorous and unspectacular day-to-day.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface BREADLINES

Acknowledgments

Notes on Translation and Transliteration

INTRODUCTION

Part 1 ASSEMBLY

Chapter 1 A NEW STYLE OF ADMINISTRATION

Chapter 2 SENSING THE STATE

Chapter 3 STATECRAFT

Part 2 ENTANGLEMENT

Chapter 4 ECHOES, ABSENCES, AND REACH

Chapter 5 TACTICS AT THE BAKERY

CONCLUSION

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781503631335

1503631338

OCLC:

1267404801