Syria The Society and Its Environment
Illustration: A pilgrim flask found in the Antioch region,
ca. A.D. 1250
SYRIAN SOCIETY IS a mosaic of social groups of various sizes
that lacks both a consistent stratification system linking all
together and a set of shared values and loyalties binding the
population into one nation. Distinctions of language, region,
religion, ethnicity, and way of life cut across the society,
producing a large number of separate communities, each marked by
strong internal loyalty and solidarity. Although nearly twothirds of the people are Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslims, they do
not constitute a unitary social force because of the strongly
felt differences among beduin, villager, and urban dweller. A
perceptive observer has spoken of the "empty center" of Syrian
society, a society lacking an influential group embodying a
national consensus.
The ethnic and religious minorities, none of which amounts to
more than 15 percent of the population, nevertheless form
geographically compact and psychologically significant blocs that
function as distinct social spheres and dominate specific regions
of the country. Because the religious groups in each locality
function as largely independent social universes, a "minority
mentality," characterized by suspicion toward those of different
groups, is widespread among both minority group members and those
of the majority group living in minority-dominated areas where
they are therefore outnumbered. Psychologically and politically,
religious distinctions are by far the most significant ones. In
all groups, loyalty to one's fellow members, rather than to a
larger Syrian nation, is a paramount value.
The religious communities are more than groups of
coworshipers; they are largely self-contained social systems that
regulate much of the daily life of their members and receive
their primary loyalty. The independence of the religious
communities is a distinctly divisive force in society. Although
Islam provides the central symbolic and cultural orientation for
about 85 percent of Syrians, minority communities, most with a
long history in the region, maintain cultural and religious
patterns outside the Muslim consensus.
The religions, sects, and denominations differ widely in
formal doctrine and belief. Nevertheless, there exists in Syria a
stratum of folk belief and practice common to rural and
uneducated persons of many religions. Members of various groups
hold certain common beliefs in saints and spirits and observe
related practices, such as exorcism and visitation of shrines,
regardless of the disapproval of the orthodox religious
authorities.
In addition to linguistic and religious dissimilarities,
three forms of traditional social and ecological organization
further divide the society. Most Syrians, including many members
of religious and ethnic minorities, inhabit rural villages and
earn their living as subsistence farmers. A dwindling number live
the admired nomadic life of the beduin, or tribesman. The
remainder, including a substantial number of recent migrants from
the countryside, live in cities and towns, many of which date
from ancient times. Each of these three represents a distinct,
usually hereditary, way of life, followed by particular social
groups and separated from the others by such social barriers as
marriage restrictions, education, and occupation.
The ascent to power of minority groups and their
implementation of Baathist policies of secularism and socialism,
has left most non-Muslims financially better off than the average
Syrian, putting them in an anomalous position. On the one hand,
many have reasserted their solidarity with Syria's opposition to
Israel, the West, alleged imperialism, and capitalism. On the
other hand, some observers have noted an exodus of numerous urban
businessmen, professionals, and managers, particularly Christians
and non-Arabs. In response, during the mid- and late-1970s, the
government encouraged the return of these émigrés and attempted
to develop a climate more favorable to them.
Successive Syrian regimes have attempted to consolidate a
Syrian national identity by eliminating the centrifugal effects
of sectarianism. Despite these efforts, Syria's postindependence
history is replete with conflict between minority groups and the
central government.
In part this conflict can be attributed to the French
mandatory administration, from which Syria inherited a
confessional system of parliamentary representation similar to
that of Lebanon, in which specific seats were allocated to
Christians, Kurds, Druzes, Alawis, Circassians, Turkomans, and
Jews. These ethnic and religious groups were guaranteed 35 of
parliament's 142 seats. Minority groups also protested what they
believed to be infringement on their political rights, and in
1950 successfully blocked efforts by the Sunni Muslim president
to declare Islam the official state religion. A 1953 bill finally
abolished the communal system of parliamentary
representation;subsequent legislation eliminated separate
jurisdictional rights in matters of personal and legal status
which the French had granted certain minority groups.
The struggle to balance minority rights and Sunni Islamic
majority representation remains a paramount theme in Syrian
domestic affairs. In 1987, the Syrian government was dominated by
President Hafiz al Assad's Alawi minority. The secular socialism
of the ruling Baath (Arab Socialist Resurrection) Party
deemphasized Islam as a component of Syrian and Arab nationalism.
However, Baath ideology prescribed that non-Muslims respect Islam
as their "national culture."
In 1986 educational and cultural institutions remained under
close governmental supervision. Such institutions were designed
to further government objectives by raising the general level of
education and literacy, strengthening awareness of Arab cultural
achievements, building public support for official policies
resting on the principles of the ruling Baath Party and seeking
to foster a sense of Syrian national unity. Public bodies serving
these objectives multiplied during the late 1960s and by the mid1980s included the ministries of education, higher education,
information, and national guidance and culture. Their activities
were complemented by several directorates, authorities, and
planning boards. In the consolidated budget for fiscal year
(
FY-- see Glossary) 1985, nearly LS (Syrian pound) 3.43 billion (for
value of the
Syrian pound, see Glossary), or 14.5 percent of the
government's expenditure, were earmarked for education of
minorities. Despite the educational system's failure to achieve
the government's goals, education remained an important channel
of upward mobility for minorities.
Data as of April 1987
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