The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends an impressive impersonation of Bob Dylan
Understanding the Houthi
WILL PODMORE recommends a study that situates the Houthi movement in context and explains its popularity
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Here, Vermiglio, William Tell and Wolf Man
New releases from Thorpe and Morrison, Daria Kulesh, and Will Finn and Rosie Calvert
RINA ARYA confronts the brutal operation of Francis Bacon’s approach to portraiture
Emphasising his continuous engagement in labour movement struggles, ALISTAIR FINDLAY salutes John Foster’s contribution as activist, strategist, intellectual and defender of the Morning Star
ANDY MIAH advocates the use of AI to assist people by expanding access to global literature and culture
EWAN KOTZ relishes a veteran Glasgow band that have lost none of their verve for live performance
Tribes and politics in Yemen: a history of the Houthi conflict
Marieke Brandt
Hurst, 2024, £20
THIS fine scholarly study of the wars in Yemen presents the local dynamics of society in Yemen’s north – Sa‘dah province and its nearby areas. The author is senior researcher at the Institute for Social Anthropology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
Her analysis focuses on the role of the region’s people in the implementation of policies, ideologies and religious doctrines. These people did not lead the overarching national debates, but they formulated the local agendas, shaped the reality of tribal, political and sectarian practice, and implemented these policies on the ground.
The eight-year civil war between republican and royalist forces, which ended the imamate and established the Yemen Arab Republic in 1962, triggered elite transformations in Sa‘dah, which were then cemented by the republican and Saudi regimes’ patronage politics. These distorted the functioning tribal order by increasing the political and economic power of the tribal leaders.
More from this author
WILL PODMORE is intrigued by a study the British ruling class that follows statistical analysis with totally inadequate proposals for change
WILL PODMORE welcomes a demonstration of the incomparable virtues of rail travel, and the political obstacles to realising its potential
WILL PODMORE welcomes a well-written and pacey account of the run-up to the 2024 general election
WILL PODMORE applauds a stunning survey of the devastation wrought by the English state over four centuries
Similar stories
The latest escalation by the US and Britain in Yemen is a sign of the war spreading out of control, warns JOHN MOORE
‘The violent repercussions of Israel’s war on Gaza are spreading across the Middle East, threatening a much wider conflict,’ Stop the War says