Maya Shatzmiller, Western University
History
Professor
London, Ontario
maya@uwo.ca
Office:
(519) 661-2111 ext. 84994
Expert In
Bio/Research
The study of the social and economic history of the Medieval Islamic world is a rich and significant component of world history scholarship. In my work I have explored the historical evidence of the Arabic sources for the purpose of explaining and illuminating the significance of the historical r...
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Bio/Research
The study of the social and economic history of the Medieval Islamic world is a rich and significant component of world history scholarship. In my work I have explored the historical evidence of the Arabic sources for the purpose of explaining and illuminating the significance of the historical record and achievements of the Islamic societies, in particular as it affected their economic performance. From my earlier work I select here three subjects for comment (see bibliography, articles and books, for details on the wider scope of my work). In 3 of my monographs I focused on several historical questions and investigated using different categories of source material and methodologies: The first was that of the social and economic factors in the formation of national medieval historiography through textual study of Moroccan chronicles and manuscripts; The second was the study of labour organization and the manufacturing sector performance in the medieval Islamic economy of the Mediterranean regions through data derived from a large number of Arabic sources, using the quantification of the ‘occupational classification’ methodology; The third, an analysis of women’s property rights in Islamic law in theory and practice, made ample use of the Arabic archives from Granada, Spain, which contains legal documents of property transactions by women.
My current research project, supported by a generous grant from SSHRC, is the writing of a new economic history for the early period of the Islamic empire, 700-1000 AD, which will consist among others of quantification of different sectors’ performance in the economy, including topics such as money, wages, prices, demographics, taxation, state budgets etc. I will use the data for the purpose of calculating for example standards of living, GDP, and rates of economic growth in the Islamic lands. The project generates datasets which are posted on the internet and will engage further in quantitative methodologies working on these topics.
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My current research project, supported by a generous grant from SSHRC, is the writing of a new economic history for the early period of the Islamic empire, 700-1000 AD, which will consist among others of quantification of different sectors’ performance in the economy, including topics such as money, wages, prices, demographics, taxation, state budgets etc. I will use the data for the purpose of calculating for example standards of living, GDP, and rates of economic growth in the Islamic lands. The project generates datasets which are posted on the internet and will engage further in quantitative methodologies working on these topics.
Click to Shrink <<