City of the sun : development and popular resistance in the pre-modern West / Michael Martin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Martin, Michael (Michel), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social classes--Europe--History--To 1500.

Social classes.

Social classes--Mediterranean Region--History--To 1500.

Social control--Europe--History--To 1500.

Social control.

Social control--Mediterranean Region--History--To 1500.

Government, Resistance to--Europe--History--To 1500.

Government, Resistance to.

Government, Resistance to--Mediterranean Region--History--To 1500.

Social change--Europe--History--To 1500.

Social change.

Social change--Mediterranean Region--History--To 1500.

Europe--Social conditions--To 1492.

Europe.

Mediterranean Region--Social conditions.

Mediterranean Region.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (456 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York, [New York] : Algora Publishing, 2017.

Summary:

"Reviewing history from an anarchist perspective, it is clear that the common people were rarely content to suffer domination by the powerful few. This book traces the evidence and patterns of popular resistance to social domination in the ancient and medieval periods, before European imperialism spread around the world at the end of the 15th century. From Mesopotamia to Khazaria, to feudal France and England, the 'lower classes' rebelled whenever they could; they organized, struck, campaigned, rioted, revolted, fought battles and wars, and otherwise resisted the rule of the socially dominant. All this, well before the existence of modern-day unions, co-operatives, labor and socialist parties, and the philosophical and political movements of anarchism, Marxism, and social or Christian democracy. Some historians offer the conservative judgment to the effect that the lower social orders accepted the rule of a powerful, wealthy minority; that is by no means true, as this sweeping history illustrates. People did resist, whenever they could do so, and often quite successfully. This book shows how, why, and when they did. City of the Sun gathers evidence, mostly from secondary sources, of this popular resistance during pre-modern, historical periods in the Occident. Furthermore, it provides context, theory, and a framework for understanding popular resistance as being part and parcel of the processes of development, that is, societal transformation through the centuries, including the development of religion and state"--Publsher description.

Contents:

La Male de Saint-Martin

Social complexity

Civilization and the state

Of metals and morality

The ancient Greeks

The ancient Romans

Christianity in the Roman Empire

The early Middle Ages in Europe

Islam in the Middle Ages

Castles/crusades, communes/cathedrals, crises/calamities

Popular resistance in the Middle Ages

Epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-62894-281-9