The Return of the Guilds: Volume 16

New approaches in economic, social, labour and institutional history have re-examined guilds - not least within the framework of a re-appraisal of the classic distinction between the 'capitalist' and 'pre-capitalist' modes of production. These fresh approaches are unravelling the reasons why guilds were established, and why they could maintain themselves so long. International comparisons have fostered this rejuvenation of guild studies; awareness is growing that guilds are not just a European phenomenon, but have been prominent all over Northern Africa and the Middle East, as well as in many parts of Asia, including China and Japan. This volume attempts to set up a comparative framework to analyse the functioning of guilds from West to East, in the period between Classical Antiquity and the Industrial Revolution.

Notes on contributors; Preface: S. R. Epstein (1960–2007) and the guilds Maarten Prak; 1. The return of the guilds: towards a global history of the guilds in pre-industrial times Jan Lucassen, Tine De Moor, and Jan Luiten van Zanden; 2. Women, gender and guilds in early modern Europe: an overview of recent research Clare Crowston; 3. The political economy of European craft guilds: power relations and economic strategies of merchants and master artisans in the medieval and early modern textile industries Hugo Soly; 4. Ottoman guilds in the early modern era Onur Yildirim; 5. The guild in modern South Asia Tirthankar Roy; 6. Brotherhoods and stock societies: guilds in pre-modern Japan Mary Louise Nagata; 7. Rural guilds and urban–rural guild relations in early modern Central Europe Josef Ehmer; 8. Guilds reappraised: Italy in the early modern period Luca Mocarelli; 9. The silent revolution: a new perspective on the emergence of commons, guilds and other forms of corporate collective action in Western Europe Tine De Moor; 10. Chinese guilds from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries: an overview Christine Moll-Murata; 11. From guild to rotary: hunters' associations and Mali's search for a civil society Jan Jansen.

Recent approaches in economic, social, labour and institutional history are revealing why guilds were established, and why they could maintain themselves for such a long time. This volume attempts to set up a comparative framework to analyse guilds in the period between Classical Antiquity and the Industrial Revolution.

Dr Tine (Martina) De Moor has studied history and environmental sciences at the universities of Ghent, Antwerp and London. In the past, she has published on the evolution of several types of institutions for collective action, and in particular on the functioning of common land in Western Europe. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Jan Luiten van Zanden is Professor of Economic History at Utrecht University and Senior Research Fellow at the IISG.
Jan Lucassen is a Senior Research Fellow at the IISG and Professor of International and Comparative Social History at the Free University in Amsterdam. He has published widely on comparative global labour history, including labour migrations, craftsmen's and journeymen's guilds, labour relations (in particular in the brick industry) and the monetization of remunerations.