Map: Pentz, Peter. The Medieval Citadel and Its Architecture. Hama: fouilles et recherches de la fondation Carlsberg 1931-1938 IV/1. København: Nationalmuseet, 1998
1.1 Food riot in Hama, 11 August 1910
Wattar Frères No. 58. Unknown photographer. Hama (Syrie) - Grand Pont du Fleuve El-Assi. Alep: Wattar Frères (N.D.).
1.1 Food riot in Hama, 11 August 1910
[Vues Aériennes de Syrie et du Liban] / 39e Régiment D’aviation [Armée du Levant]. Photography by G. David, Loquinaire and L. Piat. N.Pl.: Établissement cinématographique et photographique des armées (France). 1927, G130863 http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8443060c/f14.item
1.2 First observations
there is no or at least no immediate looting
crowds address the political authorities, predominantly peacefully
crowds gather at central places, i.e. on the streets and in front of the seat of the political authorities
women are a (substantial) part of the protests
2. Question and methodology
2.1 Research question
What is the function of food riots—immediate remedy for hunger, lower and stable bread prices in the long term, political change?
What are the implications of food riots for the study of Middle Eastern societies?
2.2 Methodology
Capture and analysis of economic data on food prices
Detailed case studies on individual food riots
Systematic analysis of all food riots as part of a “repertoire of contention”
2.3 Sources
Local newspapers and periodicals
Consular reports
Ottoman archival documents
First person accounts
3. First results and argument
3.1 Empirical results
Sample of 14 food riots between 1875 and 1920 in Aleppo, Beirut, Damascus, Hama, Homs and Jaffa (Map, table)
There is no direct causal relation between food riots and food prices (graph)
Food riots are a relatively stable “repertoire of contention” and take the form of a demonstration
3.2 argument
There is no direct causal relation between food prices and food riots
Food riots are a tactic choice on behalf of the protestors and an inherently political act
Food riots are part of a relatively stable “repertoire of contention” (C. Tilly) and a symbolic repertoire
The main target of this conscious political tactic are the ruling authorities; protestors call for equitable distribution and fair access to available bread.
Food riots are thus part of the negotiations over political legitimacy within the existing political order as based in just rule, safety of life, etc. The demands are conservative and principally recognised as legitimate
4. Repertoire of contention
1 Repertoire of contention: prologue (weeks)
Period of artificially high prices
Advantageous moment
2 Repertoire of contention: the food “riot” (few hours, a day)
A crowd of poor people—men, women and children—gathers
The crowd marches onto the seat of the local government and peacefully raises its demand for affordable bread and grain
The crowd is violently dispersed / a combination of promises and threats leads the crowd to dissolve. Original failure of the authorities leads to further escalation.
(optional) The crowds turn on merchants and loot warehouses, stores, and railway stations
Successful intervention of the highest representative of the central authorities with the help of imperial troops
3 Repertoire of contention: aftermath (weeks and months)
Intervention from the highest representative of the central authorities
No reports on falling grain prices.
5. Conclusion
5.1 Summary
Contrary to common arguments and presumptions, we find a long “tradition” of popular contentions in general and food “riots” in particular as well as female agency in genuinely political struggles in public places / space.
There is no direct causal relation between food riots and food prices.
Food riots are a relatively stable “repertoire of contention”.
Food riots are a tactic choice on behalf of the protestors and an inherently political act. They are part of the negotiations over political legitimacy within the existing political order as based in just rule, safety of life
5.2 Conclusion: open questions
What about dangerous classes and the lumpenproletariat?
What are the implications of food riots for the study of Middle Eastern societies?