The articles in this collection provide an alternative view of Middle Eastern history by focusing on the oppressed and the excluded, offering a challenge to the usual elite narratives. The collection is unique in its historical depth - ranging from the medieval period to the present - and its geographical reach, including Iran, the Ottoman Empire/Turkey, the Balkans, the Arab Middle East and North Africa.

The first to focus on the oppressed and the excluded, and their differing strategies of survival, of negotiation, and of protest and resistance, the book covers:

• • both major social classes and sectors
  • the working class
  • the peasantry
  • the urban poor
  • women
  • marginal groups such as gypsies and slaves

Based on perspectives drawn from the work of the great European social historians, and particularly inspired by Antonio Gramsci, the collection seeks to restore a sense of historical agency to subaltern classes in the region, and to uncover 'the politics of the people'.

About the Author

Stephanie Cronin is Iran Heritage Foundation Fellow at the University of Northampton. Her most recent book is Tribal Politics in Iran: Rural Conflict and the New State, 1921-1941, also published by Routledge.

Reviews

'As an exploratory attempt to bring the methods and concerns of "History from below" to the region, the book is a clear success' - R.S.G. Fletcher, Asian Affairs, 2008

' In terms of historical span, extending from the 16th century to the present, and its geographical diversity, the collection is a unique contribution to the effort of recovering the subaltern margins of society' - Nazan Maksudyan, International Journal of Middle East Studies. 42 (2010)

Book Information
ISBN 9780415665827
Author Stephanie Cronin
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 620g