INT 200: Global Capitalism and its Discontents From the Neolithic Revolution to the Ancient Near East and Ancient Greece

Hunter-Gatherers small bands constituting an extended family or two egalitarian; little social stratification, and what stratification there is often isn't reflected in economic status Little “property” Some division of labor; no trade with hunters or foragers, but perhaps some with collectors But little contact

The Neolithic Revolution Nomadic hunting and gathering to sedentary herding and harvesting – Domestication of plants and animals about 12,000 years ago allowed humans to produce their own food – Villages and towns – Surplus food production – States, kingdoms, empires – Specialization and division of labor, trade, non-portable art and architecture, centralized administration, writing, armies, priests, kings – centralized, patriarchal, and stratified

After the Neolithic Revolution 3500 BCE technology allows humanity to overcome geography Writing, wheel, roads, etc. Trade routes and empires Global religions and globetrotters

Babylonia / Ancient Mesopotamia Complex peasant society production at the village level “domestic” – largely reciprocal exchange non-market exchange of goods or labor ranging from direct barter (immediate exchange) to forms of gift exchange where a return is eventually expected (delayed exchange) Barter is a system of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money – Village based

Babylonia / Ancient Mesopotamia Or “palatial” or institutional, dominated by large temple and palace households – producers are in a servile status – labor specialization and redistribution – seasonal labor and the surplus produced – city based – second millennium onwards, the surplus was centrally collected by means of a tributary system

Babylonia / Ancient Mesopotamia Capitalistic? Not really – No government backed interplay of private property rights, contractual relationships, or markets governed by supply and demand But, there was trade – Resources could be obtained by military raids, imposition of tribute, or institutional give exchange with foreign rulers – Profit-oriented commerce in textiles and base and precious metals – Assyrian and foreign merchants imported textiles and copper to Assur; nomads brought wool which were woven into textiles in home-based workshops often run by women (wives of merchants); other traders brought tin and lapis lazuli from Iran “city hall” guaranteed contracts and the stability of weights for metals, established diplomatic relations, limited competition from foreign merchants, collected taxes Trading firms were normally family based, but caravan ventures were frequently funded by naruqqum or “money bag” — pooled resources to finance the trader’s trip

Ancient Greece 800 BCE to 1 CE: one of the most advanced preindustrial economies – Prosperity and significant consumption Before – tribute in kind paid to a king by local peasant communities – the king supplied rations to his servants, officers, and soldiers – Chunks of silver and other precious metals used in transactions City States – An aristocracy dominated peasants – the former received taxes in kind (goods and services rather than money — a percentage of the crops, usually) – and corvées (unpaid labor imposed by the state on peasants for the performance of work on public projects for limited period of time) – peasant warriors => political rights, private property

Ancient Greece City States: Trade and Markets – agora, or internal market, where everyone could bring their products and sell them freely – emporion, market dedicated to international trade – Trade networks, coins, partners – Slavery – Capitalism?