On the Borders of World-Systems: Contact Zones in Ancient and Modern Times

On the Borders of World-Systems: Contact Zones in Ancient and Modern Times draws on a diverse set of disciplines to explore historical, archaeological, and political interpretations of world-systems theory and geocivilizational analysis. The monograph has a prospective character, the main goal of which is the solution of a major problem – the study of worldwide practice, oriented towards the problems of the modern social world as a system. The principal focus is on the borderland - limes, which has been perceived variously as an impenetrable cordon, and as an open, interactive environment. In this locus of inter-world encounters, different civilizations developed, and an exchange of goods and ideas took place. Macrosociological issues of ancient and modern history are analyzed through five case studies of the Taurus-Caucasus region and its role as a contact zone in different periods.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Euphrates frontier in the Byzantine period: undergoing the new reality – Yervand Margaryan

Mountainous landscapes as bounded territories: The northern gates of the Euphrates-Tigris contact zone – Pavel Avetisyan and Arsen Bobokhyan

‘The Caucasian Frontier’ and Terek Cossacks – Aram Kosyan & Beniamin Mailyan

Jewish history within the framework of frontier theory – Vladimir Ruzhansky