Tournaments of Value: Sociability and Hierarchy in a Yemeni Town

Amir I. Hussain is an assistant professor of Islamic Studies at
California State University in Northridge.

Tournaments of Value is based on fieldwork (1989–90) conducted by the
author in Zabid, a town in the Republic of Yemen. As a woman in rural
Yemeni society, Meneley had “real” access only to other women. Thus
her study became that of a marginal group (women) within a marginal
group (rural Yemenis).

In examining the complex social interactions (“tournaments of
value”) between the women of Zabid, Meneley sheds much light on Arab
concepts of hospitality and honor/shame. To such questions as “Who is
hospitable to whom, and under what circumstances?” and “Who honors
or shames, or is in turn honored or shamed?” she finds no easy
answers. Her book is essential reading for those interested in the lives
of Muslim women.