Call for papers!

Together with Dr. Kerstin Dross-Krüpe, Marburg, I'm hosting this session at the ASOR annual meeting in Baltimore nov. 20-23.

Sinews of Empire: Networks in the Roman Near East

Most of the Near East was under Roman rule for almost seven centuries, representing the longest period of political stability in the history of the region. Since the 1990s there has been an explosion of scholarly interest in the field, with studies moving emphasis from the metropolitan to regional and local points of view, but arguably most contributions have continued to cast representatives of imperial rule as protagonists or antagonists in narratives of domination, resistance, integration and fragmentation. In this session we aim to move the focus of attention to the everyday ties of trade, religion and day-to-day regional politics connecting people and places in the Roman Near East. How did networks develop? What where the institutions underpinning interaction and fostering integration on local, regional and imperial levels? What impact did formal and informal rules have on economic, social and political activities within these networks? How did networks react to stress on imperial level, such as invasions, economic crisis or civil war? We especially welcome papers situating empirical data within theoretical frameworks such as Social Network Analysis or New Institutional Economy, in order to facilitate comparison between groups, over time and between different parts of the Roman Near East.

Details can be found here: http://www.asor.org/am/2013/2013-call-for-papers.shtml
Deadline for abstracts is feb. 15.