Social origins of Ottoman industrialisation: Evidence from the Macedonian town of Naoussa

Main author: Lapavitsas, Costas
Format: Monographs and Working Papers           
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id eprints-107
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description Ottoman industrialisation in cotton spinning was led by the town of Naoussa in Macedonia. This paper shows that Naoussa capitalists grasped the opportunities created by trade liberalisation, accumulated capital in domestic manufacture of woollen cloth, and secured a regular supply of low-wage female labour and free hydraulic energy. It is further shown that they took advantage of local institutional and political mechanisms within the Christian community independent of the relatively remote Ottoman state. But there was no capitalist transformation of agriculture, even though Naoussa capitalists often owned large land estates. Lack of broader institutional and political influence and absence of capitalist transformation of agriculture hampered the transformation of Naoussa capitalists from a provincial social group into a broad-based capitalist class.
format Monographs and Working Papers
author Lapavitsas, Costas
author_facet Lapavitsas, Costas
authorStr Lapavitsas, Costas
author_letter Lapavitsas, Costas
title Social origins of Ottoman industrialisation: Evidence from the Macedonian town of Naoussa
publisher SOAS Department of Economics Working Paper No. 142
publishDate 2004
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/107/