Popular Protest And Political Participation In The Ottoman Empire

This volume explores the forms, nature, and function of popular protest and political participation in the Ottoman Empire. Taking as a starting point the seminal work of the leading historian Suraiya Faroqhi, to whom the volume is dedicated, the contributions investigate majör aspects of popular and elite involvement in Ottoman political life from the early seventeenth century to World War I.

The studies deal with a wide range of topics, such as the political and judicial functions of petitions, contentious protest and revolt, factionalism, violence and erime, provincial political households, eleetions to city councils, commercial propaganda, and resistance to state imperatives. The contributors challenge received vvisdom and show the importance of the Ottoman subjects' participation in decision making and political processes—despite the restraints imposed by the imperial ideological order. Understanding how popular protest vvorked and how common people participated in political life enables a better grasp of the social dynamics of the Ottoman Empire and opens up new perspeetives which transcend established dichotomies.