After Oriental Despotism

The concepts of economic backwardness, Asiatic despotism and orientalism have strongly influenced perceptions of modernization, democracy and economic growth over the last three centuries. This book provides an original view of Russian and Asian history that views both in a global perspective. Via this analysis, Alessandro Stanziani opens new dimensions in the study of state formation, the global slave trade, warfare and European and Asian growth.
After Oriental Despotism questions conventional oppositions between Europe and Asia. By revisiting the history of Eurasia in this context, the book offers a serious challenge to existing ideas about the aims and goals of economic growth.

Alessandro Stanziani is Director of Studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, France

Introduction: The Scope and Aims 1. The Historical Dimension of Economic Backwardness 2. Beyond Asiatic Despotism: Territorial Power and State Construction in Eurasia 3. The Power of the Steppe: the Mongol Heritage and the Expansion of the Muscovy 4. Slavery and Trade in Central Asia and Russia 5. Nor Feudalism or Capitalism : Agrarian Markets under Coercion 6. Beyond Economic Backwardness. Labor and Growth in Eurasia in the Long Nineteenth Century Conclusion : Russia in a Globalizing World Bibliography Index