Beyond and below the polis: Networks, associations, and the writing of Greek history

This article looks at the ways we can use networks in the study of the history of Greece. At the level below the polis, networks take the form of associations (koinoniai) that bring together people of various statuses and backgrounds. Studying these koinoniai allows us to move beyond structuralist approaches into the study of real social interactions. When looking at the level below the polis, we have to adopt a world-system perspective, and study the networks that move people, goods and ideas/technologies, and the world centres that organize these networks. This approach allows us to move beyond Hellenocentric and Athenocentric approaches, and insert the Greek world into the wider Mediterranean and Near Eastern world-system.