ABSTRACT

In Ottoman history a new definition of the object of study is in order, since the present paradigm is characterized by an inability to integrate - both in structure and in time - its various areas of concentration. Its problematic confines it to a dichotomous temporalization of Ottoman history, consonant with the implicit theorizations underpinning historical research. The Asiatic mode of production is characterized by independent peasant production in which the peasants do not form autonomous units but constitute components of a larger unit, the limits of which are defined by the extent of the authority of the state. The Ottoman social formation, contained certain contradictions which became manifest conjuncturally. With the transformation of the state into a colonial state, the Ottoman system lost its specificity. It was now characterized by the dominance of the capitalist mode of production both at the economic and the political levels.