An essential reference for students and general readers alike, Arab Society and Culture provides wide-ranging essays and supplementary readings that challenge stereotypes and examine recent social and cultural change in Arab societies.<BR>From investigations of consumerism and Islam on the Internet to changing attitudes towards sex, gender and homosexuality, shifting patterns, religion and rituals, the new Arab media, and transnational Islam, this collection assesses the impact of increasingly global and mobile lifestyles on family structure, public space and private life.<BR>The texts bring together empirical explorations of the social sciences and intuitive sensibilities of the literary imagination.