A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation

Description

Abstract: On January 5-9, 1999 twenty-eight scholars from thirteen countries met with the members of the Copenhagen Polis Centre to hold a symposium on the concepts of city-state and city-state culture. The symposium was planned and organised by the editor of this volume, Mogens Herman Hansen. Fifteen of the scholars submitted papers which had been circulated in advance to all participants. Fifteen were asked each to respond to one of the papers. Three gave lectues which were later submitted in article form. Each of the contributions was a description of one specific city-state culture, in two cases of a culture which shared some of the characteristics of a city-state culture but not enough to be subsumed under the concept. After the symposium eleven other scholars were invited to write chapters about city-state cultures not debated during the symposium. For the names of the contributors see the list on page 8. The concepts of city-state and city-state culture were described in an introduction, circulated in advance, and a conclusion, written after the symposium, both by the editor.