Peasant-citizen And Slave: The Foundations Of Athenian Democracy (verso World History Series)

Halftitle Page; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Contents; Preface; Introduction; I. The Myth of the Idle Mob; Before the Myth: Athens, the Industrious â#x80;#x98;Mechanic Commonwealthâ#x80;#x99;; The Turning-Point: Mitford and the Idle, Turbulent Multitude; After Mitford; Boeckh and the Political Economy of Indolence; Burckhardt and the Greek â#x80;#x98;Contemptâ#x80;#x99; for Labour; Fustel de Coulanges and the Thwarted Bourgeois-Liberal Republic of Athens; An Inversion of the Idle Mob: Marxism and the â#x80;#x98;Slave Mode of Productionâ#x80;#x99;; II. Slavery and the Peasant-Citizen Halftitle Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Preface Introduction I. The Myth of the Idle Mob Before the Myth: Athens, the Industrious â#x80 #x98 Mechanic Commonwealthâ#x80 #x99 The Turning-Point: Mitford and the Idle, Turbulent Multitude After Mitford Boeckh and the Political Economy of Indolence Burckhardt and the Greek â#x80 #x98 Contemptâ#x80 #x99 for Labour Fustel de Coulanges and the Thwarted Bourgeois-Liberal Republic of Athens An Inversion of the Idle Mob: Marxism and the â#x80 #x98 Slave Mode of Productionâ#x80 #x99 II. Slavery and the Peasant-Citizen The Limits of Plausibility: Some Reflections on the Number and Location of Slaves in AthensLinguistic and Conceptual Ambiguities in the Evidence on Slavery Agricultural Slavery and the Peasant-Citizen Ste Croix and the Debate on Agricultural Slavery III. The Polis and the Peasant-Citizen The Liberation of Labour: From â#x80 #x98 Redistributiveâ#x80 #x99 Kingdom to Tribute-Free Polis Kings and Landlords, Subjects and Citizens: From the Fall of the Mycenaean Kingdoms to the Reforms of Solon Landlords and Peasants from Solon to Cleisthenes Village and State in Democratic Athens Town and Country in AtticaThe Nexus of Freedom and Slavery in Democratic Athens The Smallholdersâ#x80 #x99 Regime and the Subordination of Women The Dynamic Contradictions of the Peasant Regime Democracy and Empire IV. Athenian Democracy: A Peasant Culture? The Greek Concept of Freedom The Athenian Attitude to Labour Rulers and Producers: The Philosophical Subversion of Athenian Democracy Technological Stagnation? The Cultural Vitality of Athens: A Contradiction Between â#x80 #x98 Baseâ#x80 #x99 and â#x80 #x98 Superstructureâ#x80 #x99 ? Appendix I: Textual Evidence Concerning Slavery The controversial thesis at the center of this study is that, despite the importance of slavery in Athenian society, the most distinctive characteristic of Athenian democracy was the unprecedented prominence it gave to free labor. Wood argues that the emergence of the peasant as citizen, juridically and politically independent, accounts for much that is remarkable in Athenian political institutions and culture. From a survey of historical writings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the focus of which distorted later debates, Wood goes on to take issue with recent arguments, such as those of G.E.M. de Ste Croix, about the importance of slavery in agricultural production. The social, political and cultural influence of the peasant-citizen is explored in a way which questions some of the most cherished conventions of Marxist and non-Marxist historiography. This book will be of great interest to ancient historians, classicists, anthropologists and political theorists, as well as to a wider reading public. The controversial thesis at the center of this study is that, despite the importance of slavery in Athenian society, the most distinctive characteristic of Athenian democracy was the unprecedented prominence it gave to free labor. Wood argues that the emergence of the peasant as citizen, juridically and politically independent, accounts for much that is remarkable in Athenian political institutions and culture. From a survey of historical writings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the focus of which distorted later debates, Wood goes on to take issue with influential arguments, such as those of G.E.M. de Ste Croix, about the importance of slavery in agricultural production. The social, political and cultural influence of the peasant-citizen is explored in a way which questions some of the most cherished conventions of Marxist and non-Marxist historiography. From the Trade Paperback edition. "The controversial thesis at the center of this study is that, despite the importance of slavery in Athenian society, the most distinctive characteristic of Athenian democracy was the unprecedented prominence it gave to free labor. Wood argues that the emergence of the peasant as citizen, juridically and politically independent, accounts for much that is remarkable in Athenian political institutions and culture. From a survey of historical writings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the focus of which distorted later debates, Wood goes on to take issue with influential arguments, such as those of G.E.M. de Ste Croix, about the importance of slavery in agricultural production. The social, political and cultural influence of the peasant-citizen is explored in a way which questions some of the most cherished conventions of Marxist and non-Marxist historiography" --Page 4 of cover Ellen Meiksins Wood. Cover Title: Peasant-citizen & Slave. Includes Index. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 185-204). "Surprising and refreshing." -Robin Osborne, Magdalen College, Oxford