Theory as history : essays on modes of production and exploitation / by Jairus Banaji.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Banaji, Jairus, 1947-

Series:

Historical materialism book series ; 25.

Historical materialism book series, 1570-1522 ; v. 25

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Historical materialism.

Marxian historiography.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (426 p.)

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Winner of the 2011 Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize. The essays collected here straddle four decades of work in both historiography and Marxist theory, combining source-based historical work in a wide range of languages with sophisticated discussion of Marx's categories. Key themes include the distinctions that are crucial to restoring complexity to the Marxist notion of a 'mode of production'; the emergence of medieval relations of production; the origins of capitalism; the dichotomy between free and unfree labour; and essays in agrarian history that range widely from Byzantine Egypt to 19th-century colonialism. The essays demonstrate the importance of reintegrating theory with history and of bringing history back into historical materialism. An introductory chapter ties the collection together and shows how historical materialists can develop an alternative to Marx's 'Asiatic mode of production'.

Contents:

Preliminary Material / J. Banaji

Chapter One. Introduction: Themes In Historical Materialism / J. Banaji

Chapter Two. Modes Of Production In A Materialist Conception Of History / J. Banaji

Chapter Three. Historical Arguments For A ‘Logic Of Deployment’ In ‘Precapitalist’ Agriculture / J. Banaji

Chapter Four. Workers Before Capitalism / J. Banaji

Chapter Five. The Fictions Of Free Labour: Contract, Coercion, And So-Called Unfree Labour / J. Banaji

Chapter Six. Agrarian History And The Labour-Organisation Of Byzantine Large Estates / J. Banaji

Chapter Seven. Late Antiquity To The Early Middle Ages: What Kind Of Transition? (A Discussion Of Chris Wickham’s Magnum Opus) / J. Banaji

Chapter Eight. Aristocracies, Peasantries And The Framing Of The Early Middle Ages / J. Banaji

Chapter Nine. Islam, The Mediterranean And The Rise Of Capitalism / J. Banaji

Chapter Ten. Capitalist Domination And The Small Peasantry: The Deccan Districts In The Late Nineteenth Century / J. Banaji

Chapter Eleven. Trajectories Of Accumulation Or ‘Transitions’ To Capitalism? / J. Banaji

Chapter Twelve. Modes Of Production: A Synthesis / J. Banaji

Publications Of Jairus Banaji / J. Banaji

References / J. Banaji

Index / J. Banaji.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-78691-1

9786612786914

90-04-18372-8

OCLC:

667274401

Publisher Number:

10.1163/ej.9789004183681.i-406 DOI