"Reviewing history from an anarchist perspective, it is clear that the common people were rarely content to suffer domination by the powerful few. This book traces the evidence and patterns of popular resistance to social domination in the ancient and medieval periods, before European imperialism spread around the world at the end of the 15th century. From Mesopotamia to Khazaria, to feudal France and England, the 'lower classes' rebelled whenever they could; they organized, struck, campaigned, rioted, revolted, fought battles and wars, and otherwise resisted the rule of the socially dominant. All this, well before the existence of modern-day unions, co-operatives, labor and socialist parties, and the philosophical and political movements of anarchism, Marxism, and social or Christian democracy. Some historians offer the conservative judgment to the effect that the lower social orders accepted the rule of a powerful, wealthy minority; that is by no means true, as this sweeping history illustrates. People did resist, whenever they could do so, and often quite successfully. This book shows how, why, and when they did. City of the Sun gathers evidence, mostly from secondary sources, of this popular resistance during pre-modern, historical periods in the Occident. Furthermore, it provides context, theory, and a framework for understanding popular resistance as being part and parcel of the processes of development, that is, societal transformation through the centuries, including the development of religion and state"--Publsher description. |