Call for Papers

Early Modern Ottoman Studies (EMOS) – Conference II

Call for Papers: Institutions, Networks, and Economic Change in the Early Modern Ottoman World

Date: 27-28 June 2024
Host Institution: Sabancı University, Istanbul, Turkey
Location: Minerva Han (Karaköy/Istanbul)
Sabancı University Digital Campus (Altunizade /Istanbul)

The EMOS conference series was launched in 2023, an initiative set to continue bi-annually, embracing a wide range of themes and encouraging broad participation. In the intervening years, the focus will shift to theme-oriented gatherings with a more selective assembly of participants. Following the success of the inaugural EMOS conference last year, the upcoming conference is announced within the framework of Ottoman economic history, bearing the theme: “Institutions, Networks, and Economic Change in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire.”

Scholars, historians, and researchers are invited to contribute papers that shed light on the economic dynamics from the 16th to the 19th century. This conference aims to gather a diverse range of perspectives, methodologies, and scholarly research to foster a comprehensive understanding of the Ottoman economic landscape during this period.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

● The Ottoman Empire’s positioning within the Great Divergence.
● Social and political underpinnings of economic practices and ideologies.
● Consumer behavior, market integration, and the dynamics of domestic and international trade.
● Moral economy in the early modern Ottoman world.
● The “economic mind” and the intellectual economic debates.
● The ‘çiftlik’ debate
● Trade networks, capitulations, and the impact of diplomatic relations on economic structures.
● Taxation, timar holdings, and their influence on the empire’s fiscal policies.
● Urban economies, guilds, and regulation of marketplaces.
● Monetary policies, coinage, inflation, and their effects on the empire’s economy.
● Labor dynamics, slavery, and their economic implications.
● Property rights, land use, agricultural productivity, and state intervention.
● Legal frameworks, commercial law, and their role in economic activities.
● Bureaucratic organization, state expenditure, and fiscal administration.
● The cost of warfare, military financing, and the economic aftermath of campaigns.
● Environmental factors affecting agriculture, resource management, and economic stability.