Jairus Banaji

The epic battle between communism and liberal democracy ended with breathtaking ease, and the first few euphoric years of democracy's triumph seemed to hold out the promise of a world at last entering a political consensus around the rights and values of an individualistic society. But the closing years of the twentieth century have proved the resilience and extent of the century's third great political force: fascism. The success of fascist parties in European elections, the appearance of fascist-inspired groups in the United States, and the recurrence of fascistlike political behavior in the numerous nationalist-inspired wars now consuming the former communistic bloc have provoked a reevaluation of the political movement once thought utterly defeated and discredited. In fact, fascism has never received the serious attention and sustained scrutiny that has been trained on both communism and liberalism. Only a detailed, objective, and dispassionate approach to the question of what fascism is, and how and why it has been both a success in some countries and a failure in others, will begin to provide useful and constructive answers.

"The economy of the late antique Mediterranean is largely seen through the prism of Weber's influential essay of 1896. Rejecting that orthodoxy, this book argues that the late empire saw substantial economic and social change, propelled by the powerful stimulus of a stable gold coinage that circulated widely. In successive chapters Dr Banaji adduces fresh evidence for the prosperity of the late Roman countryside, the expanding circulation of gold, the restructuring of agrarian elites, and the extensive use of paid labour, above all in the period spanning the fifth to seventh centuries. The papyrological evidence is scrutinized in detail to show that a key development entailed the rise of a new aristocracy whose estates were immune to the devastating fragmentation of partible inheritance, extensively irrigated, and responsive to market opportunities. The study offers a new perspective on the still largely contested issues of the use and control of labour, arguing that the East Mediterranean saw a considerable expansion of wage employment. A concluding chapter defines the more general issue raised by the aristocracy's involvement in the monetary and business economy of the period." "Exploiting a wide range of sources, Agrarian Change in Late Antiquity weaves together different strands of historiography into a fascinating interpretation that challenges the minimalist orthodoxies about late antiquity and the ancient economy."--Jacket.

The rise of capitalism to global dominance is still largely associated ' by both laypeople and Marxist historians ' with the industrial capitalism that made its decisive breakthrough in 18th century Britain. Jairus Banaji's new work reaches back centuries and traverses vast distances to argue that this leap was preceded by a long era of distinct "commercial capitalism", which reorganised labor and production on a world scale to a degree hitherto rarely appreciated. Rather than a picture centred solely on Europe, we enter a diverse and vibrant world. Banaji reveals the cantons of Muslim merchants trading in Guangzhou since the eighth century, the 3,000 European traders recorded in Alexandria in 1216, the Genoese, Venetians and Spanish Jews battling for commercial dominance of Constantinople and later Istanbul. We are left with a rich and global portrait of a world constantly in motion, tied together and increasingly dominated by a pre-industrial capitalism. The rise of Europe to world domination, in this view, has nothing to do with any unique genius, but rather a distinct fusion of commercial capitalism with state power

The rise of capitalism to global dominance is still largely associated -- by both laypeople and Marxist historians -- with the industrial capitalism that made its decisive breakthrough in 18th century Britain. Jairus Banaji's new work reaches back centuries and traverses vast distances to argue that this leap was preceded by a long era of distinct "commercial capitalism", which reorganised labor and production on a world scale to a degree hitherto rarely appreciated. Rather than a picture centred solely on Europe, we enter a diverse and vibrant world. Banaji reveals the cantons of Muslim merchants trading in Guangzhou since the eighth century, the 3,000 European traders recorded in Alexandria in 1216, the Genoese, Venetians and Spanish Jews battling for commercial dominance of Constantinople and later Istanbul. We are left with a rich and global portrait of a world constantly in motion, tied together and increasingly dominated by a pre-industrial capitalism. The rise of Europe to world domination, in this view, has nothing to do with any unique genius, but rather a distinct fusion of commercial capitalism with state power.