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Syria Villages
The effects of the changes of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s on
the structure of village society are not entirely clear. The
urban absentee landlord has been a figure of considerable
importance in the life of some villages, and the redistribution
of land among the peasants has undoubtedly altered social
relations.
It is not possible to generalize about Syrian villages
because ecological, ethnic, and other conditions vary. On the one
hand, on the coast, where rainfall is regular, small farmers can
operate successfully. In the interior, on the other hand, water
supply is much less reliable; there, the small owner can easily
be ruined by drought, and only large enterprises stand a
reasonable chance of succeeding. For this reason, the peasant of
the interior depends on financing from the cities in place of
advances for crops and equipment previously supplied by urban
absentee landlords.
The Syrian village traditionally was not a self-sufficient
economic or social unit, but was dependent on the nearest town or
city for various services. This dependency increased in the 1970s
and 1980s. With the development of a modern system of public
transportation, peasants could visit the city with increasing
frequency for reasons such as marketing, medical care, and
entertainment. In addition, an increasing number of village youth
attended urban secondary schools and in that manner gained a
foothold in urban society, with many remaining in the town after
graduation. Increased migration to the city has to some extent
lessened the isolation of the villagers from urban life, as many
now have relatives or friends living in towns. Nevertheless, the
village should remain a significant component of society.
The relatively homogeneous occupational structure of the
village includes fewer status positions than exist in towns with
less distinction between the positions. With one or two
exceptions, every capable adult works in agriculture. There is a
very general division of labor on the basis of sex--men doing the
jobs connected with planting, harvesting, and processing of crops
and women caring for young children, keeping house, preparing
meals, and doing the more menial tasks connected with crops and
the care of animals. Only two or three nonagricultural
specialists are likely to be found in a village--a small
storekeeper, a coffeehouse proprietor, and a barber--and they
provide goods and services needed daily by the villagers. Such
specialists, with the exception of the barber, are likely to be
retired or part-time cultivators. Their occupations give them a
degree of social distinction.
Villages are organized around families and their extensions.
Often, a village consists of several lineages, or groups of
descendants of the same ancestor; the lineages frequently form
residential neighborhoods and political blocs within the village.
An individual's primary social identity is as a member of a given
lineage. The leaders of the various lineages, usually respected
middle-aged and older men informally chosen and recognized,
maintain stability and make necessary decisions on an informal
basis. These leaders keep themselves informed of opinion within
their own lineages and formulate policy in discussions with other
leaders in the village coffeehouse or the guesthouse of a leading
citizen. Those families not related to a lineage usually align
themselves with the one in whose ward they live.
Whatever a man's economic situation, he reaches its full
social status when he can abstain from direct agricultural labor.
For the ordinary peasant, this abstention occurs when he is old
enough to have sons to take over his work, allowing him to devote
himself to religious matters, family, and village affairs.
Traditionally, the nominal headman of the village was the
mukhtar, who was not necessarily the man of highest prestige in
the village. He was often chosen merely for his ability to read
and write Arabic to the degree necessary to perform the functions
of the office. If the mukhtar had a high standing in the
community, it was because of his family background and personal
qualities rather than his office. The mukhtar served primarily as
a channel of communication from higher administrative officials.
In many, if not most, villages, ultimate power and status
rested in the owners of village land, who frequently lived in
town, although they might maintain a house in or near the
village. In some cases, villages were mixed, in that a segment of
a pastoral tribe had settled there. The head of such a segment
(or of the tribe as a whole) had a good deal of status and
authority in the village. This stemmed in part from a certain
prestige accorded tribal Arabs but also occurred because such
tribal heads had acquired large quantities of land.
Data as of April 1987
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