Dependency relations in classical Athens, between exploitation and domination

Abstract

Taking into account the supposed difficulty shown by the Greeks to understand (economic) exploitation and, by contrast, their constantly present awareness about (political) domination, this paper will expose some theoretical issues linked to the problem of dependency relations in pre-capitalist societies. In doing so, it will be argued that one central characteristic of such societies is the interdependency of economics, politics and juridical aspects and, as a consequence, exploitation and domination conforms two inseparable and indistinguishable dimensions of social relations. Finally, it will be analyzed how the referred problem can be useful to explain some aspects of the relations held by the citizens of Athenian democracy