OxREP/ESF conference: urban economic life in Europe and the Mediterranean before 1800

This ESF-funded conference will be organized by the Oxford Roman Economy Project and will take place in Oxford, from 8-11 November, 2012. Focus will be on urban economic life in Europe and the Mediterranean from the emergence of Greece and Rome in the first millennium BCE up to the eve of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century. It will bring together a group of leading scholars from a wide range of national and academic backgrounds and aims to be the starting point for interdisciplinary, Europe-wide collaboration that will foster comparative approaches to urban economic life in preindustrial societies.

The conference will consist of four sessions, focusing on respectively, Urban economies through the ages, Economic life and urban space, Guilds and Professional Associations, and Family, gender and the economy.

Programme

Download the programme.

Friday 9th November
Session 1: Urban economies through the ages
09.30	The archaeology of urban economies in the Roman Empire Andrew Wilson (University of Oxford)
10.15	The fabric of society. State intervention, artisan agency, and the performance of textile manufacturing in the medieval Middle East Jessica Dijkman (University of Utrecht)
11.00	Coffee break
11.30	Rulers and Cities in the Early Islamic World Hugh Kennedy (University of London, SOAS)
12.15	La « ville moderne » dans l’« économie d’Ancien Régime » Dominique Margairaz (France, Université de Paris)
13.00	Discussion
13.30	Lunch

Session 2: Economic life and urban space
14.30	Economic life and the urban environment in the Roman World Miko Flohr (University of Oxford)
15.15	Rethinking Urban Economic Geography in Early Islamic Near‐East (7th–9th centuries CE) Fanny Bessard (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes‐Sorbonne University)
16.00	Tea break
16.30	Industrial and Market Spaces in Medieval Bruges Jan Dumolyn (Ghent University)
17.15	Constructing and negotiating space in the early modern urban economy Anne Montenach (Université de Aix‐en‐Provence)
18.00	Discussion
18.30	Drinks


Saturday, 10 November
Session 3: Guilds and Professional Associations
09.30	Memberships in several professional associations and economic networks in the Roman West Nicolas Tran (Université de Poitiers)
10.15	Medieval guilds between quality construction and rentseeking monopolies Peter Stabel (Antwerp University)
11.00	Coffee break
11.30	Ottoman Guilds between Myth and Reality Onur Yildirim (Middle East Technical University)
12.15	The institutions of urban economic life: guilds in medieval and early modern Europe Maarten Prak (University of Utrecht)
13.00	Discussion
13.30	Lunch

Session 4: Family, gender and the economy
14.30	Family Labour and the Household Economy in the Ancient Roman City Cameron Hawkins (University of Chicago)
15.15	Human capital in the medieval Islamic city: Gender, labour markets and women’s property rights Maya Shatzmiller (University of Western Ontario)
16.00	Tea break
16.30	Contextualising Family, Gender and the Economy in later Medieval England Jeremy Goldberg (University of York)
17.15	Urban specialization and the family economy. Work patterns of women and children in early modern towns, c. 1600‐1800 Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk (IISH Amsterdam)
18.00	Discussion
18.30	Drinks