Search Website
Don’t let the evidence interfere with your theory: How did the economic history of the Middle East become the paradigm of global underdevelopment
Maya Shatzmiller examines a recent theory advanced by economic historians that medieval Islamic institutions were collectivist, culturally rooted, and inimical to growth. Because this description resembles accounts of social organization in contemporary developing countries, these institutions are now cast as the cause of both historical and present-day economic stagnation. Drawing on primary Arabic sources and Islamic law, she offers a new economic history of the Middle East and shows that the evidence does not support this theory.
For more information on similar events visit the History department's Research Seminar Series page.