The Urban/Rural Divide in Athenian Political Thought

Abstract

Contemporary analyses of Athenian democracy have focused on binaries such as mass/elite, free/slave, and male/female, overlooking the urban/rural divide. In this article, I argue that urban/rural was a central cleavage in the Athenian demos. Ancient thinkers including Thucydides, Aristophanes, Plato, Xenophon, and Aristotle paid close attention to urban/rural differences and their consequences during the fifth century. Plato and Aristotle in particular developed sophisticated institutions and strategies to mitigate urban/rural divisions. Attending to the Athenian urban/rural divide deepens our understanding of the demos and highlights the importance of attachments to place, home, and customary ways of life for democratic stability.

Urban–ruraljustice

“…From the Trump administration in the USA through Le Pen in France, Orbán in Hungary and Kaczynski in Poland, political leaders have been conjuring images of the authentic rural folk, frequently contrasted with the urban elites, and painting themselves as champions of the rural people. 13 10 A recent exception, in the history of ideas, is Nathan (2022), who discusses the urban−rural divide in Athenian democracy. In critical geography studies, the terms "regional justice" or "spatial justice" are sometimes used; see e.g.…”