Late Ottoman Palestinians: Social and Cultural Dynamics in an Eastern Mediterranean Society during the Age of Empire, 1880-1920

ongoing

In the Eastern Mediterranean, the four decades between 1880 and 1920 were a time of imperialism, globalisation and Ottoman state building, but also of profound social differentiation, fuelled by an unprecedented degree of human mobility and migration. Therefore, in this period we find the roots of many social formations that have remained relevant until the present. My focus is on the individual and collective practices for coping with various challenges and on census-taking as a social process. It will open up new perspectives on social and cultural dynamics in late Ottoman Palestine, in a historical context defined by European imperialism, Ottoman state building and globalisation. The main research question is: which social strategies did late Ottoman Palestinians employ, across ethnic, religious and class divides, to confront challenges on the individual and collective levels? These include fostering social advancement of one’s household or coping with economic stress. My hypothesis is that an accumulation of individual actions led to the constant emergence and re-emergence of social formations. Using the census process and its data I will establish yardsticks that will make it possible to compare social practices across the region and beyond, and thus contribute to ongoing efforts to write a global social and cultural history and it will develop a theoretical framework and methodological standards that will be useful for similar research projects. Specifically, the project aims to set new standards for how to realise the vision of an HGIS for the entire Ottoman Empire. Enabling comparison with other sources it may also offer intriguing new perspectives for the study of colonialism, notably under the British Mandate.