Locality and Agency in the Iron Age Mediterranean

Departing from connectivity and globalization studies, this volume examines local places and communities in the ancient West Mediterranean.

Zooming in on local places and local communities, the present volume explores the interplay between the local and the global in the ancient West Mediterranean. Grounded by the twin notions of agency and locality, it investigates Indigeneity, empowerment and practice in a rich dialectic with globalizing influences and colonial forces.Against the background of the interest in ancient Mediterranean connectivity and globalization, the present volume examines local places and local communities. Exploring the interplay between the local and the global, the focus shifts from long-distance connections and 'global' trends to the local dimensions of Mediterranean interactions, highlighting how local contexts engaged with their long-distance counterparts. Given the transformative nature of this period and region, our focus is firmly on the western Mediterranean during the first half of the first millennium BCE. Discussions of the local places and local communities of the Iron Age West Mediterranean are wrapped around the twin notions of agency and locality. We argue that everyday local agency produces locality in an ongoing dialectic, ranging from collaboration to struggle, with globalizing influences and colonial forces. The eighteen West Mediterranean case studies are organized around the themes of 'Indigeneity and locality', 'agency and empowerment' and 'practice and production'.