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IMversMy Mkamhns InteoniffltàQnal 8607159 Bouguerra, Belgacem THE QUESTION OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION AND PRE­ COLONIAL ALGERIA The American University Ph.D. 1986 University Microfilms I nternstionsi 300 N. zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1986 by Bouguerra, Belgacem All Rights Reserved PLEASE NOTE: fn all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible w ay from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V 1. Glossy photographs or pages. 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print______ 3. Photographs with dark background_____ 4. Illustrations are poor copy______ 5. Pages with black marks, not original copy. 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sides of p a g e . 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages t / 8. Print exceeds margin requirements______ 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost in spine_______ 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print. 11. 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O t h e r _____________________________ ________________________________________ University Microfilms International THE QUESTION OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION AND PRE-COLONIAL ALGERIA By Belgacem Bouguerra submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Signatures of Committee Chairman Dean^V College 1985 , The American University L>0l9^ Washington, D.C. 20016 © COPYRIGHT BY BELGACEM BOUGUERRA 1986 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE QUESTION OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION AND PRE-COLONIAL ALGERIA by Belgacem Bouguerra ABSTRACT One of the most controversial concepts in Marxism today is that of the Asiatic mode of production. The latter has been used to characterize the social formations of Asia, Africa, and pre-Columbian America. However, studies that connect theory with practice are still far from being realized. Marx's concepts which he developed for the capitalist mode of production are still applied to pre-capitalist modes of production without either criti­ cism or re-examination, and more alarmingly, with revi­ sion. Thus, the present work aims at (1) narrowing the gap between theory and practice, (2) re-examining some of Marx's basic concepts, and (3) formulating a theory of the Asiatic mode of production. In doing so, this dissertation explores in some detail the origin, development, and current status of Marxist historiography in general and the Asiatic mode of production in particular. In the light of this, it examines the social history of pre-colonial North Africa, 11 with an emphasis on Algeria. It outlines the theory of the Asiatic mode of production. Thereby, it suggests that human history cannot be presented as a single sequence of successive stages, each the necessary outcome of its predecessor. Rather, it suggests that the Asiatic mode of production is a stage in the historical development of human society. It evolved from the primitive-communal mode of production and constitutes a stage from which all more developed modes of production evolved, whether directly or through other stages. Ill TABLE OP CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................. il LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ....................................... vii PART ONE THEORIES OF ORIENTAL PRE-CAPITALIST SOCIETIES Chapter I. THE PROBLEMATIC OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION................................... 2 II. ORIENTAL DESPOTISM VS. THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION............................. 17 Oriental Despotism ........................ 17 Marx's and Engels' Views of Oriental Societies ...................... 36 C o n c l u s i o n ................................. 55 III. THE FATE OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION..................................... 57 The Direct Successors to Marx and E n g e l s ............................... 57 Revival of the Asiatic Mode of Production............................... 70 Conclusion................................. 112 IV. THEORIES OR MODELS OF PRE-COLONIAL ALGERIA ............................... 117 Conclusion................................. 145 PART TWO THE CONCRETE STUDY OF PRE-COLONIAL ALGERIA V. PRE-OTTOMAN ALGERIA ........................... 149 Historical Background of Pre- Islamic Northern Africa ................ 149 Islam in North A f r i c a ..................... 171 iv Islam, Land, and Shari'a (Religious Law) Revenue ............ 175 Islam, Land, and State Revenue in the Maghrib ....................... 178 Islam and Commerce in the M a g h r i b .......... 185 The Crisis of the Fourteenth C e n t u r y ................................. 199 VI. OTTOMAN RULE IN A L G E R I A ....................... 207 Establisïiment of the Turkish State in A l g e r i a ................................. 207 Sociopolitical Structure of Ottoman A l g e r i a ................................... 211 The Economic Structure of Ottoman A l g e r i a ................................... 218 Types of Property....................... 218 Fiscal System and State Revenues ............ 234 VII. AN OUTLINE OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION................................. 242 Asiatic and Other Modes of Production......... 261 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................. 265 V LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Post-Independence Frontiers of North African States ........................... 150 2. Limits of the Roman Empire in North Africa (First Century A.D.) 153 3. Limits of the Roman Empire in North Africa (Fifth Century A.D.) 156 4. Limits of Islamic Empire in Africa (900 A . D . ) ..................................... 174 5. Limits of Islamic Empire in Africa (1500 A.D.) 174 6. Main Sub-Saharan Trade Routes in the 10th to 12th Century ........................... 186 7. Limits of Almoravid and Almohad Empires (1050-1250) 194 8. Administrative Divisions of Ottoman Algeria (1516-1830) 214 VI LIST OP TABLES 1. The Relationship of the Producer to the Means of Production, Appropriation of the Surplus, Organization of Labor, and the Form of L a b o r ................................... 263 Vll PART ONE THEORIES OF ORIENTAL PRE-CAPITALIST SOCIETIES CHAPTER I THE PROBLEMATIC OF THE ASIATIC MODE OF PRODUCTION The concept of the Asiatic mode of production is one of the most controversial concepts in the history of Marxism. The term was originally developed by Marx in the 1850s to account for a type of society outside the main­ stream of Western development. Neither Marx nor his followers restricted this mode to the geographical region of Asia. It has been used to characterize the social formations of Asia, Africa, and pre-Columbian America. Nevertheless, the theoretical status of the Asiatic mode of production has never been too secure. This is true for three reasons : (1) the unfinished work of Marx on social evolution in general and the Asiatic mode of production in particular, (2) the little or no attention paid by Western scholars to non-European history, and (3) the eagerness of early Marxist orthodoxy to embrace a unilinear and mechan­ ical conception of history. The unfinished work of Marx has opened the door to different interpretations. The scarcity of information on non-European societies forced the discussion to remain at a theoretical level. Finally, the mechanical conception of history condemned the discus­ sion of the Asiatic mode of production. 3 In this atmosphere, the discussion of the concept