A Shop of One’s Own A Shop of One’s Own Independence and Reputation among Traders in Aleppo ANNIKA RABO Published in 2005 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com In the United States of America and Canada distributed by Palgrave Macmillan a division of St. Martin’s Press 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 Copyright © 2005 Annika Rabo The right of Annika Rabo to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Culture and Society in Western and Central Asia 4 ISBN 1 85043 683 5 EAN 978 1 85043 683 6 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress catalog card: available Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall from camera-ready copy edited and supplied by the author Corrected Vision Receding brown road approaches with red green blue balloon to check eyes, clarity as objects. Uncorrected vision must be corrected to avoid headaches some people never get, preferring vague outlines, pink flowers becoming roses in time. Bad eyesight requires getting close to people to know them all. Trees leaf regardless. At a distance, a palm is any tree, native New Yorkers or Syrian transplant like E lying on its longest line is seh in Arabic, neither words, unlike I or eyeen rounded as a cursive E, Arabic four transcribed 9 more like the whe of flower or oh in the middle of an observation of two letters that are and are not what you see with or without glasses. Sandy Feinstein CONTENTS LIST OF MAPS ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x 1 What Is a Trader? 1 The Market and its People 3 Markets, Souqs and Bazaars 5 Fieldwork in the Aleppo Souq 12 The Chapters 16 2 Space, Time and People in Aleppo 19 Utilizing Space 20 The Medina Environment 28 Aleppo Time 36 3 Trading Independence 47 Everyday Shop-life 48 Being Owned by the Shop 51 Credits and Debts in the Medina 53 Partnerships 57 Souq Ideals and Souq Reality 60 Traders and the State 65 4 Trading Names 72 Names on the Market 73 Family and Descent 78 Gendered Reputation 82 Like Father Like Son? 91 Reputation, Education and Culture 94 Reputation and Religion 97 Mirroring Opinions of Selves and Others 100 5 Aleppo Events 102 Parliamentary Elections 103 Presidential Referendums 108 Urban Plans, Urbanity and Sense of Space and Place 116 Everyday Politics 122 6 Trading on the Margins 130 The Anomaly of Syria 130 Global Connections 134 Local Connections 146 Ups and Downs of the Market 154 Talking about Regional and International Politics 158 7 Traders of the Twenty-First Century 165 Three Overlapping Contexts 165 Three Overlapping Homelands 168 The Proof is in the Pudding 169 Aleppo Traders in Other Perspectives 170 NOTES 173 GLOSSARY 203 BIBLIOGRAPHY 207 INDEX 217 LIST OF MAPS Map 1 Aleppo in the network of traditional caravan routes xii Map 2 Central parts of Aleppo with relevant quarters and streets 18 Map 3 Detail of the souq of Aleppo 27 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Fieldwork in the market of Aleppo has been a wonderful experience. My field really started in Stockholm in 1997 when my friend and colleague Omar Sheikhmous ordered his Aleppo family to take care of me during my first exploratory fieldtrip that summer. Omar’s family was extremely hospitable, kind-hearted, helpful and fun to be with. That first summer Imad Sheikhmous quietly and efficiently kept my visit smooth. During my year-long stay in Aleppo 1998–1999, Akram Sheikhmous – opinionated, engaged, and extremely caring – took on responsibility for me and my son Karim’s welfare with diligence and energy. To us, Akram represents the best aspects of the patriarchal order! A special thanks to Lama and especially Gulfi for all the wonderful meals I have eaten at their tables. Omar and Akram introduced me to Hussein Badinkji when he came to Sweden on a business trip. Hussein immediately offered to ‘sponsor’ and help me in the bazaar. Hussein’s office, in the old market area, was one of the places I spent most of my time. To be able to drop Hussein’s name here and there was invaluable to establish myself in the market among traders. His relative Atif Badinjki became, not only a key informant, but also a close personal friend. He, his wife, children, and grandchildren came to epitomize the ‘good family’ where mutual respect and support permeated their daily lives. In Hussein’s office and in Atif’s shop I was always welcome to stay for hours, and through them I got to know a great many other wonderful and interesting people. Dr Mahmoud Hreitani deserves eulogies. He has written a thesis on the development of the Aleppo market, especially in the old town, and he offered to introduce me to the complex economic geography of the market quarters. Dr Mahmoud walked me through most of the old city, both inside and outside the old city wall, allowing me to absorb as much as I could from his vast knowledge of Aleppo. Our walks, where I got to know not only the buildings and the streets and the history of Aleppo, but also many traders, were among the best parts of my fieldwork. Dr Mahmoud’s lectures during our walks always aroused interest among the market-people, who often commented and asked questions. Although Dr Mahmoud felt that my anthropological approach left much to be desired (‘you have to have a plan’), he patiently helped me with everything I asked. I hope this book at least will convey some of the love for Aleppo that I have developed, not in the least with his help. Dr Mahmoud introduced me to all kinds of historic and heritage activities in Aleppo where I found new friends who gave me non-trader perspectives on Aleppo. Sindi and Aziz Hallaj grew into wonderful friends, not just for me but also to my son. Aziz vast knowledge of architecture, urban planning and Aleppo could always be tapped. In Abu Ibrahim’s office I always enjoyed myself. Dr Elias Samo of the Aleppo University supported my research, for which I am deeply grateful. I also want to thank Sandy Feinstein, who was a visiting professor at Aleppo University, for her permission to use her poem as a preface to this book. During the course of my fieldwork and writing-period I have been a member of a research group led by Inga Brandell. Borders, Boundaries and Transgressions provided intellectual support and a stimulating research environment. Inga, as well as Mona Rosendahl and Eva Evers Rosander, read my first draft. Their comments helped me reorganize my material in a great many ways. Inga claimed that she laboured from collegial duty, but I want to thank all three of them as true friends. Thank you for gently nudging me to kill quite a few darlings! Two anonymous readers gave pertinent and interested comments. Although I have not cleared all their question-marks these will certainly follow me into future ponderings on trade and traders in Aleppo. Margaret Cornell scrutinized my English, Lars Wåhlin drew the maps, and Mirja Juntunen has been a very thorough and careful technical editor. It is always a relief to have support from people who know what they are doing. I want to thank Charles Westin, the director of Ceifo, the Centre for Research on International Migration and Ethnic Relations at Stockholm University, for his generosity. Since 1998 Ceifo has been my academic home. Between 1997 and 2004 I was financed by the Swedish Research Council as a researcher on Culture and Society in the Middle East and as a research coordinator of the program Culture and Society in West and Central Asia. To be financed by the Council, and to be a researcher with the Council is an enormous privilege, and I am very grateful for that opportunity. A note on the transliteration of Arabic. I have used a very simplified form of transliteration, the sole purpose of which is to make the words phonetically readable. Finally: since the late 1990s 100 Syrian lira is approximately two USD. 1 WHAT IS A TRADER? ‘What is a trader?’ ‘A trader buys and sells. Trade is the essence of everything. A producer might produce, but without a trader nothing will be sold and the producer will not make money. A trader must be nice to his customers. He must smile and talk because nobody likes a nasty or awkward trader. The tongue of the trader must be sweet.’ This book is about traders in Aleppo. It is based on anthropological fieldwork in that city between June 1997 and March 2002, with the bulk of my stay between August 1998 and June 1999. Trade is the business of buying and selling, but in Aleppo all those who buy and sell are not considered, nor do they consider themselves, as traders (tujaar, s. taajer).1 A trader has to be a man, and, in a circular argument, he has to buy and sell in such a way that he and others recognize him as a trader.