4 Dissertationen und Habilita- tionen / Dissertations and Ha- bilitations

DISSERTATIONEN UND HABILITATIONEN DISSERTATIONS AND HABILITATIONS
Korruption oder ‚Narco-Staat’ betrachtet wird, erfolgt
durch das analytische Raster eines Rentiersansatzes
jedoch einer wirtschaftlichen Logik. Zu dieser Situation
hat die westliche Intervention zum großen Teil
selbst beigetragen. Da die Politik des Statebuilding
die Folgen dieser Politik nicht adressieren kann, aber
selbstbezogen und sich selbst überschätzend an ihrer
vermeintlichen Gestaltungsfähigkeit festhält, kommt
sie organisierter Verantwortungslosigkeit gleich. Sie
erweist sich nämlich in der Verbindung von Sicherheit
und Entwicklung als unfähig, eine klare Zielsetzung
zu entwickeln und erreicht letztlich keines von beiden.
� � �
Andrea von Sarnowski: The Role of Indigenous
People in National Development Processes: Participation
and Marginalization of Indigenous Bedouin
in South Sinai Tourism Development. – Abgeschlossene
Dissertation am Geographischen Institut,
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. Erstbetreuer
Prof. Dr. Günter Meyer.
The Bedouin of South Sinai have been significantly
affected by the politics of external powers for a long
time. However, never had the interest of external
powers in Sinai been so strong as since the Israeli-
Egyptian wars in the second half of the 20th century
when Bedouin interests started to collide with Egypt’s
plans for a development of luxury tourism in South
Sinai.
The tourism boom that has started in the 1980s has
brought economic and infrastructure development to
the Bedouin and tourism has become the most important
source of income for the Bedouin. However,
while the absolute increase of tourists to Sinai has
trickled down to the Bedouin to some extent, the participation
of Bedouin in the overall tourism development
is under-proportionate. Moreover, the Bedouin
have become increasingly dependent on monetary
income and consequently from tourism as the only
significant source of income while at the same time
they have lost much of their land as well as their selfdetermination.
In this context, the Bedouin livelihoods
have become very vulnerable due to repeated depressions
in the tourism industry as well as marginalization.
For the investigation of Bedouin participation in the
South Sinai tourism as well as their marginalization,
the Livelihood Systems Approach (LSA) was chosen
as a theoretical framework. Four key issues were analysed:
the overall context, the availability of livelihood
resources, the institutional processes and organizational
structures and the livelihood strategies that
are developed in this setting. Especially the institutional
processes and organizational structures are
crucial in order to understand Bedouin involvement in
and marginalization from the tourism development.
The data for the research was collected during three
phases of fieldwork in 2003 and 2004 with the help of
128 semi-structured interviews with Bedouin in the
touristic locations Dahab, Nuwaiba and St. Catherine
as well as several locations in the desert. Sharm al
Shaikh, the pole of South Sinai tourism was not considered,
since there, Bedouin are no longer involved in
the tourism business. The key questions regarding the
respondent, the household and where applicable the
firm as well as the respondent’s opinion about important
issues were continuously adapted and developed
on the basis of already available results.
Major marginalization processes the Bedouin are
facing are the loss of land, barriers to market entry,
especially increasingly strict rules and regulations in
the tourism industry, as well as discrimination by the
authorities. Social differentiation and Bedouin preferences
are identified as further factors in Bedouin
marginalization.
The strategies Bedouin have developed in response
to all these problems are coping strategies, which try
to deal with the present problem at the individual
level. Basically no strategies have been developed at
the collective level that would aim to actively shape
the Bedouin’s present and future. Collective action
has been hampered by a variety of factors, such as the
speed of the developments, the distribution of power
or the decay of tribal structures.
While some Bedouin might be able to continue their
tourism activities, a large number of in-formal jobs
will not be feasible anymore. The majority of the
previously mostly self-employed Bedouin will probably
be forced to work as day-laborers who will have
lost much of their pride, dignity, sovereignty and
freedom. Moreover, with a return to subsistence being
impossible for the majority of the Bedouin, it is likely
that an increasing number of marginalized Bedouin
will turn to illegal income generating activities such as
smuggling or drug cultivation. This in turn will lead to
further repression and discrimination and could escalate
in a serious violent conflict between the Bedouin
and the government.
Development plans and projects should address the
general lack of civil rights, local participation and
protection of minorities in Egypt and promote Bedouin
community development and the consideration
of Bedouin interests in tourism development.
Whether the political upheavals and the resignation
of President Mubarak at the beginning of 2011 will
have a positive effect on the situation of the Bedouin
remains to be seen.
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