Some Historical and Methodological Considerations Concerning Social Stratification in the Middle East

For a Sociology of Sectarianism

The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of the Middle East ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190087470.013.29 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Rima Majed

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Knowledge Production ◽

Social Stratification ◽

Research Agenda ◽

Disciplinary Knowledge ◽

Area Studies ◽

Specific Research ◽

Sociological Literature

This chapter offers an overview of the study of sectarianism in the Middle East. It argues that, because it has often been treated as an area studies topic, the study of sectarianism has long been absent from the mainstream sociological literature. By bridging between disciplinary knowledge production and the area-specific research agenda, this chapter proposes some conceptual and methodological notes to advance our understanding of the sectarian phenomenon in the Middle East. This chapter is a call for the development of a “sociology of sectarianism,” one that moves beyond Middle East exceptionalism to study the phenomenon of sectarianism in its complexity by locating it historically and analyzing it globally within the broader interlocking systems of social stratification.

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The Early Dynastic Near East

The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190687854.003.0009 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 531-611

Author(s):

Vitali Bartash

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Long Range ◽

Social Stratification ◽

Near East ◽

Royal Family ◽

Early Dynastic ◽

The Creation ◽

City States ◽

The Way

The Middle East in the Early Dynastic period (ca. 2900–2300 BC) was characterized by the competition of local city states for hegemony. Combined with long-range military and diplomatic relationships, this led to the creation of the first, if short-lived, larger polities in Mesopotamia and Syria, which paved the way for the emergence of the Akkad state. Cuneiform archives of temples and palaces document a gradual concentration of land, power, and wealth in the hands of an elite that included the royal family and the members of the palace and temple administration, resulting in increasing social stratification and deepening inequality in the context of surplus economy, unprecedented urbanization, and endemic war.

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