The Tale of a Feud: Domination, Resistance, and Agency in Highland Yemen (OPEN ACCESS) (original) (raw)

My first and greatest debt is to Mujāhid Ḥaydar. This book would not exist without his generosity, openness, and confidence in me. He opened his life and personal history to me, and over a period of ten years cooperated with me on this book with boundless commitment, dedication, and patience. I consider this book his accomplishment as much as mine. My thanks also go to his family, in Sufyān and elsewhere, for supporting this research. In the final phase of the writing process they even organized a search for photos in war-torn Yemen. I am also indebted to many Yemeni friends, who prefer to remain anonymous, and who, with their knowledge and good counsel, contributed so much to the evolution of this book. It is a privilege to undertake research at the Institute for Social Anthropology (isa) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna whose long research tradition on South Arabia is well known. At isa, I was (and continue to be) surrounded by a team of scholars on Yemen and South Arabia, scholars whose expertise spans from medieval times to the present day. From the inception of this book Andre Gingrich, former isa director, provided support and insightful feedback throughout the writing and editing of my drafts. I am also grateful to