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Article: Labour in the Medieval Islamic World.
- Article from:
- Journal of Social History
- Article date:
- March 22, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Journal of Social History. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The economic history of the Islamic world has developed slowly and erratically. Even with scholars like Claude Cahen, Eliyahu Ashtor, and Andrew Watson, who devote special attention to economic questions, a tendency to draw sweeping conclusions from quite limited data undermines the value of their work. Many other orientalists have drawn similar conclusions with little or no data, relying instead on unsupported assumptions or their sense of the "essence" of Islam.
Prof. Maya Shatzmiller sets a new standard for Islamic economic history. Though she fairly and comprehensively summarizes the state of the field in her first chapter on "The Historiographical Context," she ...