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Middle East Centre – Book Review – Helen Lackner’s ‘Yemen in Crisis: Autocracy, Neo-Liberalism and the Disintegration of a State’ http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2017/12/08/book-review-helen-lackners-yemen-in-crisis-autocracy-neo-liberalism-and-the-disintegration-of-a-state/ “Lackner’s account shows that in 2011, when the crisis erupted in Yemen, a breaking point had already been reached in many ways, as at that time ‘people’s living standards continued to deteriorate; the patronage and nepotism-based autocratic rule had run out of steam (and cash); and rapid population growth combined with mismanagement of limited natural resources, water in particular, threatened the country’s very survival’. On this basis, she conclusively argues that ‘reaching a sustainable peace will only be possible if all the problems are addressed in synergy’ (p. 287). “The strength of this book lies in the breadth of its topics and in their balanced presentation. Lackner’s caution in properly weighting the details of a very complicated set of developments can be attributed to her long-standing research expertise and first-hand experience in Yemen. Without losing sight of the details and many exceptions, she manages to communicate the kind of macro-evidence and abstraction that allows colleagues in other fields and the general public to grasp the overarching situation. Moreover, in her book Lackner rebuffs some prejudices and misperceptions that are common even in Yemen and therefore very difficult to correct. In Chapter 5 on the Huthis – a commendably well-balanced account of the rise and expansion of the Huthi movement in Yemen – she criticizes the belief prevalent throughout southern Yemen that only the south was being neglected and discriminated against. She rather argues that this discrimination affected large parts of the population in the north *and* south, and hence was a factor in the emergence of *both* the Huthis and the southern secessionists. In contrast to the south, however, the north ‘has not developed major internationally noticed movements’ (p. 149). Praiseworthy also are some of her corrections in relation to the local discourse in the south, which has been dominated by emotional and contentious language even among scholars concerned with southern Yemen, many of whom simultaneously function as political activists. ‘When discussing differences with the North’, she argues, ‘otherwise reasonable southern intellectuals are wont to assert that “our Southern tribes are different, they were civilized by the British for over a century”, a laughable statement which reveals a lack of understanding of both tribes and the colonial period when the British ignored the hinterland tribes for most of their period in the region’ (p. 167). Lackner’s neutrality and impartiality – one of the most important prerequisites for a researcher – make this book immensely valuable.” _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
