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“It’s the Economy, Stupid”: Al-abarī’s Analysis of the Free Rider Problem in the Abbāsid Caliphate

In: Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
Author:
Ulrika MÃ¥rtensson
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Online Publication Date:
01 Jan 2011
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Abstract

The article argues that al-abarī’s History of the Prophets and the Kings provides a free rider-analysis of the decline of Abbasid state power. Al-abarī’s historical analysis considers state policy on land tax, and religion as a legal norm related to the social contract between the head of state and the landlords. It is concluded that al-abarī saw the misāa tax system and ‘rule of law’ as the principal conditions for imperial rule, and that al-abarī’s History already provides an answer to modern historians’ questions as to why the Abbasid state crumbled, and what role religion played in the political economy.

Title:
“It’s the Economy, Stupid”: Al-abarī’s Analysis of the Free Rider Problem in the Abbāsid Caliphate
Article Type:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/156852011X586822
Language:
English
Pages:
203–238
Keywords:
misāa; Abbasid; history; al-abarī; free rider problem
In:
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
In:
Volume 54: Issue 2
Publisher:
Brill
E-ISSN:
1568-5209
Print ISSN:
0022-4995
Subjects:
General, Asian Studies, General, Ancient Near East and Egypt

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