Anne Marie Baylouny examines previously undocumented effects of neoliberal economic reforms on middle classes in the Middle East. As the state's safety network has been withdrawn, kin-based mutual aid associations--organized around new definitions of kinship and identity and geared to contemporary market and labour needs--have taken its place. Such organizations provide a measure of social and economic security for their members, and have come to dominate civil society in Jordan and Lebanon. Based on extensive fieldwork and interviews with members, non-members, and policymakers, Privatizing Welfare in the Middle East provides compelling new insights into democratization, liberalization, and civil society.