A Simple Approach to Overcoming Euro-Specific Feudalism

Title A Simple Approach to Overcoming Euro-Specific Feudalism
Author Ibrahim Mulushewa Eshete
Subject Asiatic mode of production, Feudalism
Type Book
Language Arabic
Digital Yes
Manuscript No
Library: Royal Danish Library
Library Asset ID EISSN: 2651-379X
Record ID cdi_doaj_primary_oai_doaj_org_article_e928899f4db64845bec012e39c50878c
Library Location DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals
Notes In debates over the nature of the Ottoman social formation, most 20th century Turkish historians have tended to argue that it was “not feudal.” I argue that this is mostly because of the extent to which they have unconsciously imported and internalized Eurocentrism. In particular, it is because they have been using a Euro-specific notion or definition of feudalism as their yardstick. Also involved is a methodological, indeed philosophical failure to differentiate between genus and species, between the specific and the general. What is common to most agrarian states and societies in pre-modernity is the existence of a fief-system. But once a royal power-center resorts to fief-distribution, different power configurations can result. It is this revisionist approach to taxonomy that is proposed in this article, derived from my recently completed PhD thesis on civilizations’ common structures
Görüntüle İbn Haldun çalışmaları dergisi (Online), 2023-07, Vol.8 (2)
View in source Royal Danish Library Royal Danish Library - Ottoman library catalog search
Royal Danish Library - Ottoman library catalog search Royal Danish Library

A Simple Approach to Overcoming Euro-Specific Feudalism

Author Ibrahim Mulushewa Eshete
Subject Asiatic mode of production, Feudalism
Type Book
Language Arabic
Digital Yes
Manuscript No
Library Royal Danish Library
Library Asset ID EISSN: 2651-379X
Record ID cdi_doaj_primary_oai_doaj_org_article_e928899f4db64845bec012e39c50878c
Library Location DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals
Notes In debates over the nature of the Ottoman social formation, most 20th century Turkish historians have tended to argue that it was “not feudal.” I argue that this is mostly because of the extent to which they have unconsciously imported and internalized Eurocentrism. In particular, it is because they have been using a Euro-specific notion or definition of feudalism as their yardstick. Also involved is a methodological, indeed philosophical failure to differentiate between genus and species, between the specific and the general. What is common to most agrarian states and societies in pre-modernity is the existence of a fief-system. But once a royal power-center resorts to fief-distribution, different power configurations can result. It is this revisionist approach to taxonomy that is proposed in this article, derived from my recently completed PhD thesis on civilizations’ common structures
Görüntüle İbn Haldun çalışmaları dergisi (Online), 2023-07, Vol.8 (2)
Royal Danish Library - Ottoman library catalog search
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