The Eastern origins of Western civilization / John M. Hobson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hobson, John M., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

East and West.

Civilization, Western--History.

Civilization, Western.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 376 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

John Hobson challenges the ethnocentric bias of mainstream accounts of the Rise of the West. It is often assumed that since Ancient Greek times Europeans have pioneered their own development, and that the East has been a passive by-stander in the story of progressive world history. Hobson argues that there were two processes that enabled the Rise of the 'Oriental West'. First, each major developmental turning point in Europe was informed in large part by the assimilation of Eastern inventions (e.g. ideas, technologies and institutions) which diffused from the more advanced East across the Eastern-led global economy between 500-1800. Second, the construction of European identity after 1453 led to imperialism, through which Europeans appropriated many Eastern resources (land, labour and markets). Hobson's book thus propels the hitherto marginalised Eastern peoples to the forefront of the story of progress in world history.

Contents:

Countering the Eurocentric myth of the West: discovering the Oriental West

The East as an Early Developer: the East discovers and leads the world through oriental globalisation, 500-1800

Islamic and African pioneers: building the global economy in the Afro-Asian Age of Discovery, 500-1500

Chinese pioneers: the first industrial miracle and the myth of Chinese isolationism, 1000-1800

The East remains dominant: India, Japan and Southeast Asia, 1400-1800

The West was Last: oriental globalisation and the invention of Christendom, 500-1498

Inventing Christendom and the Eastern origins of European feudalism

The myth of the Italian pioneer

The myth of the Vasco de Gama epoch, 1498-1800

The West as a Late-Developer and the advantages of backwardness: oriental grobalisation and the reconstruction of Western Europe as the advanced West, 1492-1850

The myth of 1492 and the impossibility of America: the Afro-Asian contribution to the catch-up of the West, 1492-1700

The Chinese origins of British industrialisation

Constructing European racist identity and the invention of the world, 1700-1850

War, racist imperialism and the Afro-Asian origins of British industrialisation

Conclusion: The Oriental West versus the Eurocentric Myth of the West

The twin myths of the Western liberal state and the civilisational divide between East and West, 1500-1900

The rise of the Oriental West: identity/agency, global structure and contingency.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

ISBN:

0-511-20961-4

1-107-15060-4

0-511-20782-4

1-280-54090-7

0-511-21498-7

0-511-21677-7

0-511-21140-6

0-511-32727-7

0-511-48901-3

0-511-21317-4

OCLC:

171139048