Aims

In connection with political economy, sociology and quantitative methods in history courses, by the end of this course, students should be able to handle the various concepts of economic and social history, analyse the key moments in its economic and social evolution and its short as well as middle and long term movements; identify crises, their nature and factors, describe actors and contexts.

Main themes

Paying attention to chronological and geographical specificities, as well as sources and methods, this course presents the various concepts of economic and social history, while being particularly attentive to the evolution and most recent tendencies and debates of historiography. It analyses both the structures of the economic and social life of the period involved and the dynamics running through it and making it evolve, while paying attention to both permanence and discontinuity.

Content and teaching methods

Course : the East-Greece : Particular attention is paid to the evolution of ancient societies. Various models are analysed, notably in order to evaluate the respective locations of the temple and palace in Near East economy. Study of Mycenaean palaces et alia is carried out in order to compare the data provided by texts with the archeological reality. In the archeological documentation "dark ages" provide us, we shall then try and draw on material witnesses attesting to permanency. Using colonization, the course deals with the social structures and means of appropriating land in the Greek world. For the Hellenistic period, our attention turns to novelties introduced by the Greeks into the oriental fabric. Rome and Italy : The course is above all centred on attempting to analyse Roman society, to follow over time the gradual emergence of an oligarchy, from the archaic epoch to the setting up of a senatorial nobility and equestrian order progressively distinct from the military cavalry. The lively social tensions conquest brings on are studied, notably through the mechanisms of agrarian and grain laws. For the imperial period, we shall try to grasp the conditions for the emergence of provincial elites and the vicissitudes marking their history. The continuities and metamorphoses of the Later Empire are the object of distinct chapters.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Evaluation : individual examination in ways to be determined by the instructor.
Teaching materials : Student notes, bibliographical references, reading portfolio or syllabus as required. Special bibliography - Working documents. Specialized bibliography in history, in numismatics.
Teaching : by the instructor.

Other credits in programs