Of Tribes and Empires

Of Tribes and Empires challenges the idea that states and empires naturally emerge by overcoming tribal societies. Focusing on the region from the Sahara to the Gobi Desert, Cherkaoui argues that political order has long been shaped by a durable struggle between tribal organization and imperial power. Empires rise by incorporating tribes, yet rarely succeed in neutralizing them. From the incomplete Romanization of Berber societies to the institutional fragility of Islamic empires, tribal structures repeatedly undermine imperial centralization. This unresolved tension, Cherkaoui contends, continues to shape political authority in contemporary Arab-Muslim societies and helps explain the failure of the emergence of capitalism and liberal-democracy. The book also reveals why imperial claims to cultural universality collapse, introducing “proletaroid intellectuals” as key producers of ideological resistance and alternative forms of legitimacy.