Ibn Khaldun and the Canon of Political Thinkers
Vagelis Papakonstantinou
Working Paper · September 2026
A reading of Ibn Khaldun as an original, systematic political thinker, focusing on government and its legitimacy. The paper examines asabiyyah (‘group feeling’) as an alternative to Social Contract theory: a collective bond through which a group supports and sustains its government.
Complete paper with footnotes · 9 pages