Qat, Cosmopolitanism, and Modernity in Sana’a, Yemen

Abstract

Qat, or Catha edulis, is a drug widely and frequently consumed by Yemeni men and married women. Unmarried women, in contrast, have historically chewed less frequently as their consuming qat is generally deemed inappropriate and shameful (‛ayb). This informal prohibition on qat consumption for unmarried women, however, is increasingly transgressed by a select cohort of young, educated, and unmarried women with distinguished, upper‑class backgrounds. Drawing on in‑depth interviews, participant observations and informal conversations gathered within the context of eight months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2009, it is argued that chewing qat works to create and maintain class‑specific, “modern” subjectivities revolving around values and practices of cosmopolitanism, independence, and freedom.

Keywords

• gender
• modernity
• qat
• consumption
• cosmopolitanism
• elite women