Modern Muslim politics keeps old kin idioms but lost their substance

Evidence

Political relationships are currently a kind of shadow of the old loyalty of cousinly groups, whose idioms they continue to use. The security of men no longer lies in their cousins: the collective oath is abolished, the feud is no longer practicable. — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2042

Categorization

• XREF: Resonates with Gellner’s general theory of segmentary societies versus state centralization — the ‘shadow’ of kinship over modern politics.