Notes on Richard Tapper

Prof. Richard Tapper, Head of the Department of Sociology & Anthropology, SOAS
PhD Anthropology University of London 1972
Prof SOAS U of London.
Tapper spent a year with the Shahsevan in 1964 and 1965.
Tapper, Richard, Pasture and Politics: Economics, Conflict and Ritual Among Shahsevan Nomads of Northwestern Iran, Academic Press, London. 1979
Tapper, Richard, Nomads in a Wider Society, Cultural Survival Quarterly, vol. 8, pp. 23-25. 1984
Tapper, Richard, Baluchistan, Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 3, pp. 598-632. 1989
Tapper, Richard, FRONTIER NOMADS OF IRAN. A political and social history of the Shahsevan. Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997. ca. 438 p., 9 half-tones, 9 maps
Tapper, Richard, ed. Islam in Modern Turkey: Religion, Politics, and Literature in a Secular State. London: Tauris, 1991.

Tapper, Richard, & MCLACHLAN, KEITH TECHNOLOGY, TRADITION AND SURVIVAL. Aspects of material culture in the Middle East and Central Asia. 1999. 224 p., ills., map.
Tapper, Richard, (éd.) 1983. - The conflict of tribe and state in Iran and Afghanistan. - London UK.; Canberra: Croom Helm; New York: St.Martin's Press. - 463 p.
Richard Tapper, "Golden Tent-pegs: Settlement and Change among Nomads in Afghan Turkistan". In S. Akiner (ed.), Cultural Change and Continuity in Central Asia. London: Kegan Paul, 1991, pp. 198-217.
Tapper, Richard, SOME MINORITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. R. TAPPER (Ed.). OCCASIONAL PAPER IX. LONDON: CNMES/SOAS, 1992.
Tapper: Frontier Nomads of Iran: A Political and Social History of Shahsevan (Willem Floor) page 542. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY Volume 119 / Number 3/ July-September 1999

Tapper, Richard. Frontier Nomads of Iran,A Political and Social History of the Shahsevan. Cambridge Univ. Press. 1997.

This is a splendid book. Tapper takes 35 years study of the Shahsevan and translates his work into written form. This book is meant to be the definitive book on Shahsevan. Tapper has deeply researched the other books in the field and through references and footnotes he surveys the other work in detail.

Tapper's section on the origin of the Shahsevan is deeply troubling. I freely admit that Tapper has studied the Shahsevan since I was in grade school but his argument seems to contain flaws. It is as though Tapper is so set on refuting James J. Reid's Tribalism and Society in Islamic Iran that he goes too far in the opposite direction. I am concerned that he is less than clear on tribal and political terms. Some of his conclusions seem based on one meaning of words with several.

From the Publisher

Description
Richard Tapper’s book, which is based on three decades of ethnographic fieldwork and extensive documentary research, traces the political and social history of the Shahsevan, one of the major nomadic peoples of Iran. The story is a dramatic one, recounting the mythical origins of the tribes, their unification as a confederacy, and their decline under the Pahlavi Shahs. The book is intended as a contribution to three different debates. The first concerns the riddle of Shahsevan origins, while another considers how far changes in tribal social and political formations are a function of relations with states. The third discusses how different constructions of the identity of a particular people determine their view of the past. In this way, the book promises not only to make a major contribution to the history and anthropology of the Middle East and Central Asia, but also to current theoretical debates in both disciplines.

What has been said about Frontier Nomads of Iran

‘This book is a study of considerable erudition and practical good sense, the result of extensive documentary research and intensive fieldwork … much enriched by historical detail and pertinent comment … it is remarkable how much this demanding but informative study conveys to the reader with great integrity, clarity and judgement.’ Asian Affairs

Chapter Contents
1. Writing tribal history; Part I. The Safavid State and the Origins of the Shahsevan: 2. ‘Shahsevan’: Safavid tribal policy and practice; 3. Shahsevan traditions; 4. Moghan and Ardabil in Safavid times; Part II. The Rise of the Shahsevan Confederacy: 5. Badr Khan Sari-Khan-Beyli; 6. Nazar ‘Ali Khan Shahsevan of Ardabil; 7. The Shahsevan tribal confederacy; Part III. The Shahsevan Tribes in the Great Game: 8. The Russian wars and the loss of Moghan; 9. The Shahsevan nomads in the mid-nineteenth century; 10. Nomads and commissars in Moghan; Part IV. The End of the Tribal Confederacy: 11. Pastures new: the effects of the frontier closure; 12. The Shahsevan, the Constitution, the Great War and after; 13. Settlement and detribalization; 14. Shahsevan identity and history.

http://uk.Cambridge.org/areastudies/catalogue/0521583365/default.htm

Tapper, Richard (Editor).
The New Iranian Cinema: Politics, Representation and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan 2002, ISBN: 1860648037, Dimensions (inches): 1.0x6.25x9.25 Paperback

From the Publisher:
Iranian cinema is today widely recognized not merely as a distinctive national cinema, but as one of the most innovative in the world. This international stature both fascinates Western observers and appears paradoxical in line with perceptions of Iran as anti-modern. The largely Iranian contributors to this book look in depth at how Iranian cinema became a true "world cinema." From a range of perspectives, they explore cinema's development in post Revolution Iran and its place in Iranian culture.