Nomads of South Persia

A book review on freedom and movement of the Basseri

  • Full title: Nomads of South Persia: the Basseri Tribe of the Khamseh Confederacy
  • Author: Fredrik Barth
  • Publisher: Little Brown & Co
  • Paperback: 161 pages
  • Year: 1961

My Review’s Abstract

Based upon seven-months long fieldwork and the optic of structural-functionalism, the book offers the synthesis of economic, social and political dimensions of “Basseri’s cultural adaptation to the environmental circumstances.”

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • The Basseri: From Household to Chieftainship
  • The Economy of Nomadic Life and Kinship
  • The Basseri: In between State and Nature
  • Contextual Critique

Original Abstract (1961)

In this thorough analysis, Barth explores the features of and the economic, social, and political adaptations to the nomadic, pastoral existence of this tent-dwelling population.



Nomads of South Persia – Book Review