Collaboration space: Cities

"Medieval Muslim cities were not governed by city councils or bureaucratic administrations. Civilian elites had none of the landholdings, charters, or military training that guaranteed the autonomy of urban notables elsewhere. Artisans and craftsmen were without guilds or trade organizations to defend their interests." How did these societies hold together as complex human communities?

Bulliet, R., The Patricians of Nishapur (Cambridge, MA, 1972).

Lapidus, I., Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge, MA, 1967).

Mottahedeh, Roy, Loyalty and Leadership in an Early Islamic Society (Princeton, 1980)

Chamberlain, Knowledge and Social Practice in Medievel Damascus, 1190-1350 (Cambridge, UK, 1994)