History of the Division of Psychoanalysis in the American Psychological Association Book

The most valuable information provided by the book covers the Druze settlement of Jabal Hauran. I would love to find another piece of literature that provides as much insight as this work does on the particular topic. Firro relies on a variety of primary sources, including French and English diplomatic correspondence. His reliance on Arabic (and specifically Druze) sources also helps by adding additional layers of complexity to the English language historical narratives written about the settlement.

On the downside, his strength also proved a weakness. His exclusive focus on the Druze isolated them from the broader Ottoman context in which they lived. The dearth of Ottoman sources in Firro’s work could have caused this shortcoming. If he discussed other communities or players, Firro presented only those that impacted the Druze community directly. These included, most prominently, the Maronites, the Bedouin tribes of Deraa, Ottoman administrators in Greater Syria and the diplomatic corps of the British and French empires.

Viewing the Druze settlement of Hauran so narrowly presents an inaccurate historical picture – or at least an incomplete one. In the first place, it victimizes the subject unnecessarily (the Druze in this particular case) by presenting them as a persecuted minority undergoing unparalleled suffering at the hands of aggressors that are usually portrayed as the French, their local Christian clients and Ottoman officialdom. Secondly, it distracts the reader from the reality that during the exact same period (during which the largest Druze migrations took place), massive demographic changes were transpiring or beginning to take place in other parts of the Ottoman Empire. Examples include the Crimean, Balkan and Caucasian Muslims who left their homes under duress and resettled in other parts of the Empire, the Greek-Turkish population transfers and ultimately the Armenian Genocide.

Within this broader context, it becomes clear that the Druze settlement of the Hauran was a relatively insignificant and benign historical development. Moreover if seen in this light, one may also identify similarities and differences with the other events noted above. Such an exercise could point to the existence of protagonists and historical forces (political as well as economic) that were blind to geographic, racial and religious boundaries within the Ottoman Empire. In this sense, Firro fails miserably. By focusing on the Druze settlement of Hauran exclusively, he misleads his reader and denies himself the potential to generate fruitful parallels with similar events taking place in other parts of the Ottoman Empire.