It has to be admitted - if only hypothetically - that there is a close correlation between the modes of economic production and the role given to the individual in society. Consequently, one must also undoubtedly admit that fluctuations which economic mechanisms experience, whether these are cycles, crises, stagnation phenomena, or inversely, rapid development, have a marked influence on the processes of individuation, it therefore follows that these processes of individuation do not follow a uniform trajectory, and that they may be regressions of individuation just as there exist economic discontinuance and involutions. Thus, for example, one may juxtapose the economic cycles which have marked the history of the Islamic lands between the 10th and 15th centuries with the almost parallel cycles of emergence or, according to the case, effacing of the individual.
However, the main issue is not to look at the individual in society in broad general terms, but to individuals as they related to the process of economic change. For example, what is the relationship between investment and individual prestige in society? There is no need to analyse modes of production in terms of economic cycles and economic theory, but in terms of specific themes related to the individual, i.e. have a set of concrete questions to put forward to historians, anthropologists and others.
Is individuation regularly linked to economic transformation? It is obvious that this is the fundamental question which we will first have to answer. In this respect, we should look closely at the role of monetary exchange and the accumulation of capital, just as we will need to examine the means available to achieve private ownership and to preserve the family heritage. Nor should relations between the Muslim world's economies and the exterior escape investigation, for international trade has often given impetus to the appearance of large, private fortunes. In addition, one should take into account the role that non-Islamic economies could have played as 'models'. It is in this way that the slow dissolution of corporations allows us both to measure the extent of the penetration of European models and to understand social resistance to a process which, above all, is based on the individuation of socio-economic behaviour and mechanisms.
We realise that the question of the relationship between economic phenomena and the role allotted to the individual is one that may be posed anywhere. But we expect to find patterns and relations particular to the Mediterranean Muslim world. Moreover, there is a real problem of interpretation in assuming that individuation is closely linked to economic transformation. But since economy is so deeply embedded in culture, this line of research seems quite pertinent.
Another question deserving attention is that of the position of women in economic production. Obviously, we must take another look at the traditional stereotype of the Muslim woman shut up in a harem and confined to household tasks. Countless examples exist to show that in Islamic lands female labour filled a fundamental role in numerous production sectors (particularly textiles). In certain cities around the Mediterranean, there were many women amongst the street-stall and shop owners. In the same way, the industries which came into being in the 19th century turned largely to women for their labour. Did women's active participation in production allow them to assert themselves as individuals? Were women anything other than an instrument placed in the hands of men. The question cannot be avoided, and a thorough analysis of the role of the sexes in the economy should be carried out.
Let us underline the fact that it is hardly possible to study Homo oeconomicus without examining his capacity for innovation. Whatever else one may say. Muslim societies are no less susceptible to change than other societies. We must still ask what place they leave for innovators. From what sectors of society are the latter recruited? Once again, through such questions, we come back to our principal question concerning the position of the individual in Islamic lands.
While it is easy to pick out eloquent examples of a real aptitude for innovation in the history of Islamic societies, it is proper to note that in many cases, a great many innovators came from non-Muslim minorities such as the Jewish and Christian communities that lived among the Muslims. In particular, we will study ethnic and religious groups; professional specialisations, and the nature of their relations with the Muslim component of these societies.
Finally, whether it is a question of a market economy and/or a rural economy (which deserve equal attention), it is fitting to take an interest in the social structures to which various production forms give birth. As the focus of the study is the emergence of the individual, it seems particularly useful to study the middle strata of society. Under what conditions do we see the "middle class" appear in Islamic lands? Of what elements are these classes composed? What functions do they fulfil? What is the situation in rural surroundings? These questions apply to societies in the first centuries of Islam as well as to the modern and contemporary period.
In the Granada meeting, the participants realised that the workshop as defined in the program posed problems of interpretation in assuming that individuation is closely linked to economic transformation and that the process of individuation could not be considered within the realm of an autonomous economic sector. It seemed to the participants that it is impossible to study economics in the abstract, for it is embedded in culture. The inevitability of progress in economic change was also discussed. They agreed that the main issue is not to look at individuals as they relate to the process of economic change, that there is no need to analyse modes of production in terms of economic cycles and economic theory, but in terms of specific themes related to the individual, i.e. have a set of concrete questions to elaborate through history, anthropology, sociology, etc.
One of the main concerns was whether individuation is linked to economic transformation. Work relations, the market, accumulation, display, investment, urban and rural sites, tradition, adaptation and innovation, ambiguities of modernisation were considered as conceptual frameworks to analyse individuation.
Two broad diachronic and thematic lines emerged from the discussion:
1) Enrichment through land tenure: private property in land, patterns of individual and collective wealth creation, appropriation, the real estate and legislation. The slow dissolution of corporations and the penetration of European models will be another important Issue to be studied. Craftsmen, traders, solidarity, sociability, mutual assistance were seen as the crucial topics to elaborate on professional organisation.
2) Enrichment and "embourgeoisement" through market mechanisms, mainly from the 18th, century onwards. This will involve urban structures and the rise of new social strata, mainly the Middle Eastern "bourgeoisie", the native and foreign merchants. The main themes will be: the role of monetary exchange and the accumulation of capital, the means available to achieve private ownership and to preserve the family heritage, relations between the Muslim world's economies and the exterior (the western world, the Far East), international trade giving impetus to the appearance of large private fortunes.
Responsible for this Web page is Knut S. Vikør. Last updated 24.1.97