lecture 3 - European backwardness Flashcards
eurocentrism
- definition
= a point of view that places Europe at the center of everything, particularly modernity and progress, and that sees the rest of the world as historically backwards
about European empires
- Last lecture
- they truly were global
- most recent empires to achieve a global hegemony
so it is a good starting point for global history
bottomline this lecture
Europeans were backwards in almost every aspect comparing to non-western civilizations
'’backwardness’’ not in a the sense of a lineair process of history that works for everywhere, but to throw this word against Europeans, who used it against the ‘‘third world’’
a world of knowledge - east vs west?
e.g. Aristotle only known in Europe C12-13 through Arabic translations (which they translated to Latin)
- original texts of Aristotle weren’t really read until much later, they read translations from Arabic translations
(links to Leiden)
- Plaque for Franciscus Raphelengius: dictionary Arabic->Lating (the first)
- Joseph Scaliger: spoke ancient languages + expanded ancient history to include e.g. Babylonia, Jewish settlements, Egyptian history
- Tulips came from the Ottoman empire
1593 first tulip planted in Leiden
*speculation about tulip prices helped/led to development first stock market
key idea: The Eastern Origins of Western Civilization
- title of book by John M. Hobson
- seen as major revision Eurocentric IR
Voltaire: when you study this globe as a philospoher, you first direct your attention towards the East, the cradle of all arts, which were then given to the Weest
methodological Eurocentrism
- methodological internalism = origins and sources of modernity are internal to Europe + were later shared with the rest of the world
- historical priority = Europe was the first to reach modernity + remains the ‘core’ and prime mover of history
- universal stagism = there are stages of development, through which all societies must pass
- linear developmentalism= there are stages that follow after another (linear process)
5 assertions about the pre-1500 world (eurocentric world)
- it was stuck in stagnant ‘‘tradition’’ that undermined economic development (there was considerable Eastern economic progress before C16)
- it was divided into insular regions (Afro-Asian age of discovery 500-1500 = local and regional economies were linked: proto-globalization)
- it was ruled by irrational despots or petty chieftains (europeans entered the imperial game in the late C15 under circumstances dictated to them by Middle Easterners)
- a globally interdependent world was not yet possible
- that interdependent world was finally created during Europe’s ‘‘age of discovery’’ starting in 1492
!the first 3 are easy to disprove by looking at the facts
*4 and 5 aren’t necessarily Eurocentric, it depends what evidence, reasoning is behind them
The Oriental Globalization
what it is
- ca. 500-1800
- Middle Eastern Muslims % North Africans were the first to begin creating a ‘‘global’’ economy after 500
- East-oriented global economy was further developed and maintained until ca. 1800 by diverse groups of people (Chinese, Jews, Arabs, Persians etc.)
- it linked together all major world civilization (exc. Americas) though trade -> oriental/eastern globalization
key facts about the Oriental Globalization
- begins ca. 500 with the revival of land routes through Central Asia traversed by camels (*fall of Rome, the eastern Roman Empire continued to exist)
- ca.500-1100: two main centers of civilizations (Middle East & China) are connected through trade, creating a world system
- **mostly peaceful relations between empires:* trade is mutually beneficial; few areas of territorial dispute
4 main empires of medieval world
- Byzantyne Empire (ca. 330-1453)
- Tang Empire, followed by Song Empire in China (618-1279)
- Umayyad Empire followed by Abbasid Empire in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia (661-1258)
- Fatimid Empire in North Africa (909-1171)
Byzantine Empire
- ca. 330-1453
- aka Eastern Roman Empire
- Capital = Constantinople (Istanbul)
- Christian empire until C11 (schism leading to (Greek orthodox church))
- Conquered by the Ottomans
Tang Empire + Song Empire
- China
- 618-1279
- capital in Chang’an (Xi’an)
- interregnum in C10: five dynasties and ten kingdoms period
Umayyad Empire + Abbasid Empire
- 661-1258
- Abbasid Golden Age (cultural+ scientific), late C8-C9
- fell during the Mongol invasions C13
- Sunni Islamic caliphates, capitals in Damascus and Baghdad (the round system)
Fatimid Empire
- North Africa
- 909-1171
- Shia Islamic caliphate
- fell to Abbasid Empire and Christian First Crusade (C11-C12)
