The Feudalism Debate

The volume "Feudalism in the World" arose from global interest in the problematic of feudalism in the 1980s, opening up theoretical premises and empirical basis to extensive explorations. Harbans Mukhia's essay "Was There Feudalism in Indian History?" triggered an international debate on the problem, questioning the tension between Marxist conception of capitalism and construction of feudalism as a universal category. The spatial dimensions of the problem were extended to include China, Turkey, and Arabia, besides Europe and India.

Format: Hardback
Length: 344 pages
Publication date: 11 October 2023
Publisher: Manohar Publishers and Distributors

The volume "Feudalism in the 1980s: Theoretical Premises and Empirical Basis" emerged as a result of global interest in the problematic of feudalism during that decade. It opened up both its theoretical premises and the empirical basis to extensive, deep, and varied explorations, with most of these explorations grounded in Marxist theory. In 1981, Harbans Mukhia's essay, "Was There Feudalism in Indian History?" was published in The Journal of Peasant Studies, sparking an international debate on the problem in the journal's special issue in 1985 and subsequent issues. Among the central questions was the tension between the Marxist conception of capitalism as the first world system and several Marxist historians' construction of feudalism as a universal category. The spatial dimensions of the problem were extended to include China, Turkey, and Arabia, besides Europe and India, in the course of the debate. The questioning of some of the received wisdom understandably leads to both fierce defense on its behalf as well as further questions.

Weight: 470g
Dimension: 167 x 227 x 34 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9788173042843