On the Borders of World-Systems: Contact Zones in Ancient and Modern Times

On the Borders of World-Systems: Contact Zones in Ancient and Modern Times was initiated by a multidisciplinary group of authors and examines the historical, archaeological, and political interpretations of world-systems theory and geocivilizational analysis.The main goal of this monograph is to find the solution to a major problem: the study of worldwide practice, oriented towards the problems of the modern social world as a system. The main focus is the borderland-'limes'-which resembles an impenetrable cordon, and an open, interactive environment. In this sphere of inter-world encounters, different civilizations developed, exchanges of goods and ideas took place.The macrosociological issues of ancient and modern history are presented through five articles, or case-studies, concentrating on the Taurus-Caucasus region, which functioned as a contact zone throughout the different periods.