Most of the recent studies on the southern Jordan Bedouins portray the Bedouins as being resistant to change and development. These studies are more descriptive than analytical, focusing on romantic aspects of the Bedouin's lifestyle. In contrast, this study, based on fieldwork conducted in Wadi Rum between June-November 2004, attempts an ethnographical study that does not represent the Bedouins in a stereotypical way, neither romanticising them nor treating them as in need of development. It is based on an examination of the relationship between the socio-cultural, economic and political aspects of Bedouin society and the physical environment in which they live. The different types of settlements inhabited by Wadi Rum's Bedouin society are documented, and the contextual sources of change that shaped, and are still shaping the Bedouins' living patterns, are analyzed.

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